


Benevolence & Troublesome

by Cantthinkifname



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Boys In Love, Break Up, Child Abuse, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Romance, F/M, Falling In Love, Female Friendship, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Idiots in Love, Implied Sexual Content, Jealous Karasuno, Jealous Ushijima, Jealousy, Love Confessions, Love Triangles, Love at First Sight, Multi, Multiple Endings, Multiple Relationships, No Smut, POV Third Person, Protective Karasuno Volleyball Club, Reader-Insert, Romance, Romantic Gestures, Volleyball, Volleyball Dorks in Love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-20
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 22:13:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 34,129
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23224585
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cantthinkifname/pseuds/Cantthinkifname
Summary: [Name] [Last Name], a 2nd year at Karasuno High and the sports medic of the volleyball team. Although she gets mistaken for a manager, she’s actually the nurse for the volleyball team. [Name] is a sports medic because she wishes to be a sports medic for professionals and help those who injure themselves in playing a sport she loves; volleyball. She has quite the history to her and has family issues that she doesn’t talk openly about. During the start of the year, she’s suspended for a month of club activities due to a physical altercation with someone outside of school. Hopefully, she doesn’t have anymore problems as she tries to help her boys get to nationals and tries not to catch the attention of others since she already has the ace from Shiratorizawa.
Relationships: Akaashi Keiji/Reader, Azumane Asahi/Reader, Bokuto Koutarou/Reader, Ennoshita Chikara/Reader, Futakuchi Kenji/Reader, Goshiki Tsutomu/Reader, Haiba Lev/Reader, Hinata Shouyou/Reader, Iwaizumi Hajime/Reader, Kageyama Tobio/Reader, Kozume Kenma/Reader, Kuroo Tetsurou/Reader, Miya Atsumu/Reader, Miya Osamu/Reader, Nishinoya Yuu/Reader, Oikawa Tooru/Reader, Sakusa Kiyoomi/Reader, Sawamura Daichi/Reader, Semi Eita/Reader, Sugawara Koushi/Reader, Suna Rintarou/Reader, Tanaka Ryuunosuke/Reader, Tendou Satori/Reader, Terushima Yuuji/Reader, Tsukishima Kei/Reader, Ushijima Wakatoshi/Reader, Yaku Morisuke/Reader, Yamaguchi Tadashi/Reader
Comments: 21
Kudos: 421
Collections: oc self insertSI





	1. Those Suspended Come Back & He Who Is Called

[Name] walks around in the halls, not that many people in the halls since most of the students are in their classes. [Name] had actually needed to go to the bathroom, but now she has done her business and just strolling around in the halls. She doesn't have a place in mind to go and she just wanted a breather from her math class at the moment. She understands the material so she should be fine, but she just needed to really take a bathroom break and a breather. 

"[Last Name]?" 

[Name] turns around, her eyebrow raised at who called her name. She stops her in her tracks and turns around, seeing Sugawara standing in the hall. She smiles widely, bouncing towards the light grey haired male with happiness surrounding her and a friendly aura. She hasn't seen the male in a month due to her club suspension. 

"Suga-san! It's been a while, huh?" [Name] questioned, peering up at the Sugawara. "How's the club holding up without their medic manager?" 

Sugawara smiled, excited to see the girl. “It’s been a month since we last saw you! You and Nishinoya are coming back today right?” 

[Name] nods her head, giving Sugawara a kind smile. “Of course! I can’t wait to see everyone and the new players too!” [Name] stands to the side, lifting her hand to say goodbye. “Well, I’ll see you at the club.”

“Why are you wandering in the halls?” Sugawara called out, the girl stops in her tracks. He gazed at the girl’s back, seeing her tense up and her shoulders tremble. “You only walk around the halls when something is troubling you.”

_“I can’t keep doing this, [Name],” Ushijima stated._

_[Name] hangs her head down, being in Ushijima's dorm bathroom and he towers over her. She didn't feel like going back home after what happened and she feels horrible for not telling the truth to Ushijima either. She intertwines her fingers in her lap, her eye throbbing and the cut on her lip stinging. She doesn't want to cause anymore trouble for him than she already has._

_He lets out a sigh, crouching down. "[Name], I know you didn't trip down the stairs. Just tell me what actually happened."_

_"Waka...," [Name] mumbled, lowering her head more. "I already told you what happened. I wasn't paying attention and I tripped down the stairs. I was busy playing a cat game on my phone."_

_Ushijima lets out a sigh, standing up and [Name] sees that his figure disappears from her view. She looks up, seeing Ushijima grab his first-aid kit he had that [Name] had bought for him in case he gets injured during practice or doing normal things like cooking or if he scrapes something on his body. She was always kind to make sure the boy doesn't get hurt._

_Ushijima grabs a cotton ball and puts a little disinfect on the little cloud ball. He stands in front of [Name] again, grabbing her chin and lifting her head gently as he taps the cotton ball on her lower lip. [Name] doesn't flinch, gazing at Ushijima's dark, olive eyes and she knows that he must be frustrated with her, but there's no way she'll tell him what's going on in her life. It's already troublesome for her._

_"[Name], I think we should break up," Ushijima stated. [Name]'s eyes widen, her heart dropping to her gut at his blunt words and her eyes burn. She never thought of ever breaking up with him since they had started dating when she was in her final year of junior high and he entered high school. "It seems that you can't trust me and tell me what really happened to you." Ushijima grabs a band-aid, opening it and placing it on [Name]'s lip. "You can sleep here and I'll tell Tendo to sleep in Semi's dorm, but it's your decision."_

_She watched Ushijima walk out of the bathroom and he exits his dorm, closing the door behind him gently. [Name] looked down at her lip, her vision blurring and she hunches over, hugging herself. She cries softly, her eyes shut and her tears falling into her lap as she holds herself. She doesn't want to break up with Ushijima, but she also doesn't want to tell him the truth either. It'll just cause more trouble for him and for herself too._

_"_ I just wanted to getsome fresh air, Suga," [Name] answered, smiling over her shoulder. 

She doesn't want to worry Sugawara about her relationship. He doesn't even know about her dating Ushijima as she kept it a secret from the volleyball team except for Nishinoya. He's been knowing since the two of them went to the same junior high school and [Name] trusts the boy not to say anything. He, unfortunately, also knows about her home situation too.

[Name] doesn’t want people knowing about her home situation because it’s messy and she’s afraid she’ll get into more trouble. It’s already bad enough that she has one parent left that doesn’t even act like a parent towards her either. Besides, her father is a lost cause and he’s been a lost cause since her mother has passed away. He turned towards abusing drugs and alcohol and would bring the wrong crowd into their house. Thus [Name] moves in with her grandmother although her grandmother is hardly home because of work. 

Of course, she not going to mention her problems.

—-

“Nishi, what am I supposed to do?” [Name] mumbled, her eyes downcast as she walks with the boy. “I don’t want to break up with Wakatoshi, but if I don’t tell him the truth then we’re over.” 

“Personally, I think you should tell him the truth,” Nishinoya started, the two of them are heading towards the gym. “Your father is an asshole, [Name]. It’s only going to get worse with his addiction. And the people he brings over? It’s something that you should tell Ushijima.”

[Name] stops walking, looking down as she clenched her skirt in her hands. “What if he doesn’t want to associate with me anymore? We have our relationship as a secret and to tell him that my dad’s a drug addict? What if that makes it worse?” 

Nishinoya smiles widely, placing his hand on [Name]’s shoulder with reassurance. “The good thing is that you live with your grandma and only see your father on the weekends. Besides, he cares about you like the rest of us do! We don’t want to see you hurt either.” 

[Name] smiles, nodding her head. “Right.” She embraces Nishinoya, wrapping her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly. “Thank you.” 

Nishinoya rubs her back, a sad smile on his lips as he’s helped the girl that he likes with her relationship. He’s known her since middle school because they went to the same middle school while he was on the Boys’ Volleyball Team and [Name] on the Girls’ Volleyball Team. He was there when she met Ushijima and he was there to receive the news of the two of them dating. And he’s been there for her as she would go to him for advice. 

[Name] smiles widely, pulling away from him as she’s in a much chipper mood. “Let’s hurry to the gym! I haven’t been in the gym in a while and I’m excited to see the newbies!”

\---

[Name] stands outside the gym as Nishinoya rushes in and perfectly receives one of the spikes the black haired boy did. She smiled, knowing that the black haired boy was shocked just like the other kid in the gym who's short and has orange hair. The ball bounces away, Nishinoya standing up straight and he throws his jacket over his shoulder. 

"He's shorter than me," the orange haired kid said. 

[Name] laughed, covering her mouth as she rushes over to Nishinoya.

"Huh? Hey, what did you just say?" Nishinoya shouted.

"I-I'm sorry," the kid said, Nishinoya getting close to the kid. "Um... how tall are you?"

[Name] jumps on Nishinoya's back, smiling widely at the kid. "He's 159 centimeters!" 

"How tall are you?" The boy questioned, pointing to [Name]. 

"Me? I'm 160 centimeters," [Name] answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I think. I haven't checked in a long time." 

The boy lets out a noise, both [Name] and Nishinoya looking at each other as they're in question of the boy's antics. She shrugged her shoulders, holding her arms behind her back as the boy starts to rub his eyes. 

"It's the first time I've looked down at someone since I started high school activities," the boy confessed, his tone filled of relief. 

"Don't weep with joy about it!" Nishinoya barked. "You're not looking down that far!"

"Oi! [Name]-san, Noya-san."

[Name] looks over to the doors, seeing Tanaka, Daichi, and Sugawara walking through the doors. She smiled, she hasn't seen them in a while although she saw Sugawara today, but she figured it was sort of left off on awkward terms. She doesn't want anyone else to know about her home situation besides Nishinoya. She doesn't want it to be troublesome to them as she knows it's already troublesome to Nishinoya.

"Hey, Ryuu," [Name] and Nishinoya greeted. 

"[Last Name], Nishinoya," Daichi and Sugawara greeted, walking towards them.

"Hey!" 

"Let me introduce you," Daichi offered, looking to the two boys then to [Name]. "She is [Last Name], a second-year. She's the sports medic for the team."

"Nice to meet you guys," [Name] said, waving at the boys. "If you ever get injured, leave it to me!" 

"This is Nishinoya, a second-year too," Daichi said. 

"Hi." 

"Hey! You guys are first-years, huh?" Nishinoya questioned, he points to the tall guy. "You, the guy that was serving! The tall guy with the nasty glare. What junior high are you from?" 

"Kitagawa Daiichi," the tall one answered. 

Nishinoya leans forward. "Seriously? That's a power school. No wonder you serve like that. We played against you guys and lost 2 to 1. Your serve was amazing then, too."

"Noisy as ever," Daichi and Sugawara mumbled. 

[Name] shook her head, pondering why Nishinoya was so excited to state his team loss like that, but he's enthusiastic about Kitagawa Daiichi boy. She remembers watching the match although she doesn't remember the boy at all. It was a while ago and although Kitagawa Daiichi was impressive, she couldn't remember any faces. 

"What junior high were you at, Nishinoya-san?" Kitagawa Daiichi boy questioned. 

Nishinoya throws his fist up. "Chidoriyama."

"That's a power school. Why did you come to Karasuno? Because you heard coach Ukai was coming back?"

[Name] snorted, covering her mouth with her hand as she knows why Nishinoya came to Karasuno. His reasoning is stupid although understandable because the clothing of Karasuno is nice and the boys gets to wear black. [Name] likes the color choices of Karasuno and the style of clothing although the uniforms are almost the same. Also, her grandmother lives somewhat close to the high school too. 

"No... I came to Karasuno because..." Nishinoya started, his tone serious and he looks up. "Because I like the girls' uniform." He clenches his fist. Nishinoya gestures to [Name], since she has the girls' uniform on obviously. "Intensely. And the girls have lived up to my expectations. And above all... because of the boy's uniform." Nishinoya puts on the jacket. "In black! I wore a blazer in junior high, so I admired this uniform. It's not brown or grey, but black!"

"I know what you mean," Tanaka agreed. 

"Karasuno has black uniforms, and the girls' uniform is cute," Nishinoya stated proudly, his arms crossed. "The school's close to home. It was a no-brainer." 

[Name] heard a noise of footsteps. She looks to the doors to see Kiyoko-san. "Oh, Kiyoko-san is here."

"Kiyoko-san! I've some to see you!" Nishinoya exclaimed. 

Nishinoya leaves [Name]'s side quickly, the boy running towards Kiyoko and the girl flinches once her eyes land on him. [Name] laughed loudly, watching as Nishinoya pounces towards Kiyoko and she slaps him in the face. [Name] smiled warmly, missing those in the volleyball team greatly. 

"He's like a hurricane, as usual," Sugawara commented. 

"A guerrilla downpour." [Name] heard the orange hair boy mumble.

Daichi laughs. "Quite the noisemaker, isn't he? Yet when he plays, he's surprisingly..."

"Quiet," [Name] finished. She smiles widely, her gaze on Nishinoya and she noticed Daichi look at her. [Name] blushed, waving her hands around. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to finish your sentence!"

"It's all right, [Last Name]," Daichi assured.

"And? Where's Asashi-san? Did he come back?" Nishinoya asked, acting as if he just didn't get smacked in the face. He walks forward, stopping in his tracks and placing his hands on his hips.

[Name] looks at Daichi and Sugawara, seeing their surprised looks on their faces. She raised an eyebrow, surely Asahi is coming. He's the ace of the team. Plus, she hasn't seen him in a while either and she's excited to see him again. Her and Asahi are good friends since they're both shy and nice. 

"No," Daichi said. 

Daichi looks down while Sugawara looks away. [Name]'s eyes widen, pondering why Asahi wouldn't be coming back, but then she remembers the match against the Iron Wall. That was surely a tough match for the boys and probably a heavy toll on Asahi because he's the ace. [Name] lets out a sigh, her eyes going to Nishinoya because that boy admires Asahi so much.

"That wimp!" Nishinoya growled. His mood flipping quickly. 

"Nishi! Don't talk about Asahi-san like that!" [Name] stated, lightly glaring at the boy. 

Tanaka steps forward, angry at Nishinoya for calling Asahi a name. "Don't talk like that about your senpai!"

"Shut up!" Nishinoya yelled. "A wimp is a wimp. If Asahi-san's not coming back, neither am I."

"Hey, Noya!"

Nishinoya walks towards the door. [Name] lets out another sigh as Tanaka tries to go after Nishinoya, but [Name] stops Tanaka. Perhaps, [Name] can convince Asahi to come back and join the volleyball team. She knows there's been times where Asahi has enjoyed the practice and the matches, but the lost to the Iron Wall must have been tough and damaged his confidence. However, she has faith that they'll come back. 

"Ryuu, leave him be about Asahi-san," [Name] suggested, her hand still on Tanaka's arm. "He'll turn around, but I'll try talking to Asahi-san about coming back." Tanaka simply nods his head, a light blush on his cheeks as his mind is focused on [Name]'s hand being on his arm. [Name] removes her hand from his arm and looks to Daichi and Sugawara. "I'll try convincing Asahi-san, but I might need help."

The orange haired kid goes after Nishinoya. [Name] glances at Tanaka, Daichi, and Sugawara, nodding her head and she follows after the orange haired 1st year with the boys following her. She ponders what the kid might say to Nishinoya, but it's better than Tanaka riling up Nishinoya. 

[Name], Tanaka, Daichi, and Sugawara hide behind a wall, watching as Nishinoya approaches a bench that circles around a tree and the oranged haired kid, Hinata, follows after him. [Name] hopes that Hinata could do something that'll at least convince Nishinoya to come back. 

"U-Um..." Hinata called out, Nishinoya stops walking. "Nishinoya-san, you're a libero, right? You're a defender."

"It's Nishinoya," Nishinoya stated, he sits down. "And what makes you think I'm a libero? Because I'm short?"

"Huh? No... Because you're a good receiver," Hinata said. Nishinoya looks up, letting out a hum of shock. "Libero is a position for good receivers, right? That's right, isn't it?"

Nishinoya smirks. "You know what you're talking about." 

"Plus, the captain also called you the Guardian God," Hinata added. 

[Name] glanced at Daichi in question and he shrugs his shoulders. [Name] giggles, shaking her head as that will definitely boost Nishinoya's ego. She looks back over to Nishinoya and Hinata, seeing Nishinoya tense up and there's a light blush on his cheeks as he looks at Hinata in surprise.

"Guardian? What the heck is that?" Nishinoya questioned, completely flustered. He puts a hand on the back of his head, looking away. "He's exaggerating. I'm not all that..." Nishinoya puts his hand out as he's now trying to shield himself and he looks away. He then looks at Hinata. "He really said that?"

"Yeah, yeah." 

"But I don't care if he called me a cool name like that," Nishinoya said, puffing his cheeks as he spoke. "I won't bend so easily. Damn you, Daichi-san!"

"I'm still lousy at receiving, even though it's the most important thing in volleyball," Hinata said. Nishinoya looks at Hinata, dropping his arms and Hinata steps forward. "So please teach me how, Nishi... Nishinoya-senpai."

[Name] smiled widely, knowing that probably hit Nishinoya hard from his reaction. He hasn't been called senpai by any underclassmen from what [Name] has experienced and heard so far. 

"You..." Nishinoya stands up, placing his hand on Hinata's shoulder. "I'll buy you ice cream after practice. Because I'm..." Nishinoya points at himself with his thumb. "...your senpai!"

"Does that mean..." Hinata trailed off, his hops high.

Nishinoya points at Hinata. "That doesn't mean I'm going back to that club. I'm going to teach you. That's all." 

"Thanks." 

[Name] and the boys let out a sigh of relief. She looks back over to Nishinoya and Hinata, smiling widely at the sight in front of her and she's glad that Nishinoya will come back even if it's to help Hinata receive some tosses.

\---

[Name] sits on the stage, practicing with taping her fingers as Kinoshita and Ennoshita are sweeping the floors. [Name] could hear Nishinoya give some points about receiving, but she definitely knows that Nishinoya explained with actions of his arms and noise. It's funny that's how he understands things and for others, they don't get it.

"It's no good," [Name] stated, jumping off the stage and walking towards the boys.

She stands on the other side of Nishinoya. Hinata, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Kageyama, and Tanaka are on the other side of Nishinoya. Nishinoya is in his gym clothes and he already received the ball, his body low from the position of receiving the ball. 

"Nishi can't explain it because he moves purely on instinct," [Name] elaborated, noticing the confused looks on Hinata's, Tsukishima's, and Yamaguchi's face. [Name] smiles at Tanaka as she walks over to him, holding her hands up higher. "Look at my taping skills Ryuu! They've improved." 

"That's better than last years," Tanaka chuckled. 

"Really? I sort of understood what he was saying," Kageyama stated. 

Tanaka looks to Kageyama. "Because you belong to his species. When you explain something, all you say is 'pow' and 'whoa' and stuff. Nobody else understands you."

"Libero is a special position, isn't it?" Takeda questioned, a book in his hands.

"Yes. The libero specializes exclusively in defense," Daichi explained. "They're not allowed to make offensive plays, like serving or spiking. They switch places with the rearguards to solidify defense."

[Name] walks back over to the stage, lifting herself on it and going back to removing the tape from her fingers. She puts away her kit, deciding to watch the boys practice and she sees the 1st years lined up. Nishinoya stands in front of Tsukishima, the bonde towering over him and most certainly can tower over [Name]. 

"So that's the Guardian God of Karasuno," Takeda said, looking at Nishinoya. "How awesome."

"It would give us a real shot in the arm if he came back," Daichi informed, his gaze also on Nishinoya. "He has a very strong presence, notwithstanding his short stature." 

"You, I've been noticing your height," Nishinoya said, pointing at Tsukishima. The volleyball rests on Nishinoya's hip. "How tall are you?"

"Tsukki is--"

"Shut up, Yamaguchi."

"Sorry, Tsuki."

"He inspires confidence," Daichi continues.

[Name] feels her phone vibrate in her pocket. She looks down at her lap, pulling out her phone and she sees a two messages from Ushiwaka. She raised an eyebrow, unlocking her phone and she opens up the messages. 

**_Wakatoshi_**

**_Text me when you get home_ **

**_Wakatoshi_ **

**_Please_ **

**_[Name]_ **

_**Okay** _

[Name] lets out a sigh, putting her phone away. She always texts Ushijima when she gets home because when she's at the volleyball club, it's late at night however it's out of the norm for Ushijima to say please to [Name]. Although, it could be his way of showing that he cares about her more and that he wants to show that he can be concern for her. 

"You were talking about 'Asahi-san'. Who's he?" Hinata questioned. 

"Moron, don't say that name carelessly," Tanaka whispered. 

Nishinoya paused, pursing his lips. "He's Karasuno's ace, for what it's worth."

"Ace?" Hinata asked, his eyes wide. 

"What's with the empty-headed look?" Nishinoya remarked, his hands on his hips. 

Hinata steps forward. "I... want to be the ace."

"Huh? With your height?" Nishinoya's question made Hinata's shoulders drop. But Nishinoya smacks his hand onto Hinata's shoulder. "I like you. Right? You want it because it's awesome, right? Good, good. Do it, do it. Become the ace. You'd be far more impressive than our current ace." Nishinoya laughs until he stands to the side with his arms crossed. "But then again, it's the ce that inspires you."

"Yes. Aces are awesome," Hinata said loudly. 

"The word 'ace' has an awesome ring to it. 'Setter' and 'libero' sound boring. But... in a match, when the crowd is going crazy... even more than at an amazing spike, is when there's a super receive." Nishinoya looks down at his hand. "In the battle of height that is volleyball, libero is one of the few positions in which a short player can survive." He looks up, meeting Hinata's gaze. "But I'm not a libero because of my height. I'd be a libero even if I was two meters tall. Even if your side misses the spike, even if your side can't block... as long as the ball doesn't hit the court... in volleyball, that means you haven't lost. And the one best suited to do that..." Nishinoya points at himself. "... is the libero."

"A-Awesome."

"J-Jackass. Don't say it so sincerely! Damn it! I'll buy you two kinds of ice cream. Soda ice and pear flavor."

"Thanks!"

"So, ace-wannabe. What's your specialty?" Nishinoya asked. 

"Huh?" 

"You're a lousy receiver, but there must be something you're good at," Nishinoya said. 

"Well, um.. Decoy..." Hinata mumbled, embarrassed.

"Huh? De-what?" 

"Decoy." 

"Why do you say it with such a lack of confidence?" Nishinoya questioned. 

Hinata looks up. "Because it doesn't sound flashy like ace or Guardian God."

"Who cares how it sounds?" Nishinoya stated. 

"But.."

"If a spiker is able to score it's because of you, the decoy," Nishinoya puts his fist in the middle of Hinata's chest, "then your position is just as important."

"Yes."

[Name] smiled, knowing that Nishinoya can always be there to have someone feel better. He's able to inspire those around him and he's done that to Hinata. She's glad to see Nishinoya be able to do that to others and also be cheerful himself. It's definitely a good quality of Nishinoya's. Although there are times or rather, a lot of times where Nishinoya is super blunt. 

***

"Let's do this, Suga-san!" [Name] whispered, smiling widely at Sugawara.

[Name] and Sugawara stand outside Asahi's classroom. Sugawara and [Name] plan on convincing their ace to come back to the team so they could have him and Nishinoya too. Last night, [Name] messaged Ushijima that she was home and they talked a little bit on the phone too. She promised that she'd tell Ushijima what's been going on lately in a week and Sugawara had also messaged her last night to talk to Asahi the next morning. 

[Name] and Sugawara enter Asahi's classroom, walking over to the boy's desk and standing in front of it. Asahi looks up, his gaze a little wide as he looks at [Name] and Sugawara. [Name] isn't holding a smile on her features as she looks at Asahi and Sugawara isn't being his overly friendly, but he's still polite. 

"Hey, [Last Name], Suga. It's been a while," Asahi said, smiling at them.

"Please," Sugawara begged, going straight forward to it. "Come back to us, Asahi." 

"Me and Nishi's no longer suspended," [Name] informed, pleading Asahi with her eyes. "He's coming back, too."

Asahi looks down, smiling wider. "I see. I'm glad. It's reassuring to have Nishinoya behind you."

"And you, too," Sugawara stated, stepping forward. 

"Asahi-san, everyone feels better when you're there to decide the toss," [Name] stated, seeing the look on Asahi's face. She can't tell if it's out of pity or not. He definitely remembers the match against the Iron Wall. 

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I'd get in everyone's way again if I came back," Asahi said, putting his hand up as if to wave it off. 

Sugawara places his hand on Asahi's desk. "Listen to me. I hate to admit it, but we have an amazing first-year setter now and a formidable decoy. You won't have to bear all the burden alone anymore. If you and Nishinoya come back, along with our new reinforcements, Karasuno will no longer be the fallen champs. Now that our team is on the verge of transformation, we need our pillar, the ace, more than ev-" 

"Azumane." [Name] and the two boys look at the door, seeing a classmate standing at the door. "The guidance counselor's ready for you." The classmate then walks away.

"Sorry, [Last Name], Suga," Asahi said, standing up from his desk. 

[Name] and Sugawara watch Asahi walk out the classroom. She glanced at Sugawara and she lets out a quiet sigh. The boy must be really traumatized after the match against Date Tech High. However, [Name] isn't going to take that type of answer from Asahi at all. She gives Sugawara a smile and runs out of the classroom.

"Wait, Asahi!" [Name] yelled.

"Asahi?"

[Name] noticed Hinata and Kageyama outside of the class and Sugawara is standing next to her. Hinata flinches at Asahi's height and most likely looks because Asahi looks intimidating because he doesn't look like a normal teenager. Although, she's curious why Hinata and Kageyama are standing outside the class.

"Huh? What are you guys doing here?" Sugawara questioned, seeing the 1st-year duo. 

"Oh, um..."

[Name] and Sugawara step outside of the classroom, Hinata steps out from behind Kageyama. Asahi stands with a hand on his hip, looking at the two 1st years in front of him.

"Let me introduce our new members, Hinata and Kageyama," Sugawara informed, gesturing to the two. 

"So you're the first-years," Asahi said. 

"Hello!" Hinata and Kageyama bowed. 

"Hey. How many, this year?" Asahi questioned, looking at [Name] and Sugawara.

[Name] tilted her head, remembering the new members. "Four. Hinata wants to be the ace of Karasuno." 

"I see," Asahi said, smiling widely. Ashai placed his hand on Hinata's shoulder. "Do your best."

Hinata looks up at Asahi. "Aren't you going to play, too? I want to become the ace, so I want to watch an ace play in person."

"Azumane. Sensei's waiting," the classmate informed. 

Asahi smiled, holding his hand up in departure. "Sorry, but I'm no ace."

[Name] looked at Asahi with sad eyes, wishing the boy would come back, but she also doesn't want to force Asahi into something he doesn't want to do. She understands that he doesn't want to face Date Tech High again and have another harsh defeat, but this year could be different because there's new members. 

"Is he injured or something?" Kageyama asked. 

"No, it's not like that..." Sugawara said, his eyes on Asahi's back as he walks away. "I think... I think the problem is that he doesn't like volleyball anymore."

"What? But he's so tall and he's an ace! Why?" Hinata questioned. 

"Asahi was the tallest in Karasuno, and he had power," [Name] explained, her gaze on Asahi too. "He rescued the team when things got rough and managed difficult balls. That's why everyone acknowledge that he was the ace, and we trusted him." 

"Was he defeated?" Kageyama asked.

[Name] shared at look with Sugawara before she looks down. The match against Date Tech High was a very harsh one on the team and it was also the last match of the previous year. [Name] will never forget Date Tech High and their Iron Wall either. 

"There was a match in which all of his spikes got blocked," Sugawara elborated. He looks out the window, feeling the cool air on his face as he remembers the match too. "He's the type to shoulder all the blame."

\---

"Rolling... thunder!" Nishinoya yelled. 

[Name] looked up in time to see Nishinoya roll as he received a ball and the ball lands in the basket. She smiles, leaning against the wall as she has the first-aid kit in her hands. She feels relieved to see Nishinoya practicing with the team even though he's not officially back with the team 

Tanaka laughs loudly as he points at Nishinoya.

"Nice receive," Sugawara said.

"That's just an ordinary rolling receive," Tanaka laughed. 

"Why did he yell that out?" Kageyama asked.

"What was that?" Tsukishima laughed. 

"Kageyama, Yamaguchi, Tsukishima! I'm going to lecture you all!" Nishinoya barked. "Crouch down! I mean, sit down! Get lower than my line of vision!"

"Teach me! Teach me the Rolling Thunder!" Hinata begged.

"I want you all to listen up," Takeda said, waving his arm around. 

Everyone stops fooling around and they gather around Takeda. [Name] stands next to Daichi as everyone is standing in the courtlines. She ponders what Takeda has to tell them. It could be that he found a coach for the team although that's the only thing [Name] could really think of.

"We're doing it again this year, aren't we?" Takeda questioned, looking excited. "Golden Week training camp!"

"Yes. We still need a lot of practice," Daichi informed. 

"One more thing. For the last day of Golden Week... I've arranged a practice match!" Takeda exclaimed, throwing his fist in the air. 

Everyone lets out a surprised or shock noise, looking at Takeda with happiness and excitement as they're going to have a practice match. [Name] know the boys are going to be excited and she's also curious about who the boys will be going against for the practice match. However, she's surprised Takeda was able to schedule the team a practice match. 

"Awesome! Very impressive, Take-chan," Tanaka praised.

"Who's our opponent?" Sugawara asked.

"A venerated school in Tokyo, Nekoma High School," Takeda explained, [Name]'s eyes widening a little. "They call themselves... Neko."

"Neko?" Hinata questioned. 

"We've heard a lot about them," [Name] stated, Hinata looking at the girl for more information. "Our former coach and theirs were rivals. We played each other a lot."

"Whoa."

"That's right," Sugawara said. "The famous matches were called 'Cat vs. Crow: Battle at the Garbage Dump.'"

"You sure those matches were famous?" Tsukishima asked. 

Daichi looks at Takeda. "They've refused us for a while. Why now?"

"Yeah, I'll tell you the details later," Takeda assured, a smile on his face. "But after I heard about that rival school, I had to arrange for a rematch of destiny. I think when he hears who our opponent is... He'll want to take action."

"All right. We have an important practice match coming up," Daichi yelled, facing his teammates. "Let's get fired up."

"Yes!"

"Tokyo, huh?" Tanaka questioned, a devilish look on his face. "I'll smash those city boys to smithereens."

Tsukishima laughed. "He said, 'shitty boys.'"

"Shut the hell up, Tsukishima!" Tanaka yelled.

[Name] smiled, placing a hand on Tanaka's shoulder. "Please never say shitty boys." 

"Not you too, [Last Name]!" 

[Name] walked over to where she left the first aid kit as the team talks to themselves. She'll practice more with taping her fingers, applying the wrappings for injuries, and seeing videos on YouTube about treating injuries that happen in sports. She's excited about going to Tokyo and she can just leave the permission slip on the table where her grandma will see it. 

Her grandma comes home late at night and leaves early in the morning. Her grandma works for a wealthy family and she's the maid at the wealthy family's home although [Name] has never met the wealthy family and her grandma never talks about that family either. However, there are time when her grandma has either 2-3 days off of the week which is great and gives her grandma time to relax. 

After practice, [Name] said her goodbyes to the team, waving goodbye to them. She checked her phone, seeing that she didn't get any text messages from Ushijima the whole day. He probably got busy with practice and once he got to his dorm, he fell asleep. Whatever happened, she'll make sure to text him goodnight and goodmorning once she wakes up. 

[Name] puts her phone away, her gaze lowering as she ponders what to make for dinner. There's food at her grandma's home that she could make something simply and she'll make sure to make extra so there's leftovers for her grandma too. Although, [Name]'s thinking she should make her grandma's favorite dish to surprise her grandma. 

"[Name]."

[Name] lets out a hum, looking up and towards the noise of who called her name. Her eyes widen, feeling her heart jump in her throat at the sight of Ushijima standing in front of the gates of Karasuno. She points at him, seeing that he's in casual clothes and also pondering why he's at her school too. 

"Waka! What are you doing here!" [Name] exclaimed. 

"I wanted to see you," Ushijima stated, walking towards her. "I'm going to walk you home." 

"You are?" She questioned, tilting her head. 

Ushijima hums, nodding his head. "Yes. There was no practice schedule today so I decided to come see you." 

[Name] smiled widely, reaching for Ushijima's hand and taking it in hers. Since Ushijima a lot taller than her, his hands are larger and she always makes sure to intertwine their fingers too. She looks up at Ushijima with happiness and warmth in her eyes, the brightest smile on her lips as she's bubbling with excitement in her. 

"Do you want to stay for dinner?" [Name] asked, the two of them starting their walk to her house. 

"Yes, thank you." 


	2. A Toss To The Ace

"Is the food good?" [Name] questioned. 

She finished eating her portion of the dinner, but Ushijima is still eating himself. He eats larger portions that [Name] does and she's fine with it since she wants him to feel full and be healthy. [Name]'s washing the dishes and Ushijima is sitting at the table. He helped prepare the dinner and they made more than they were expecting. 

"Yes. You are a wonderful cook, [Name]," Ushijima stated.

[Name] chuckled. "You helped too, Waka."

She heard the chair scrape against the floor and she looked over her shoulder. Ushijima stands behind her, his arms caging her in between him and the sink. [Name] blushed, not once thinking that Ushijima would ever be this straightforward about advances like that. Her hands are still wet since she was washing the dishes and there's still soap present on her hands too as Ushijima leans down. 

"When are you going to tell me?" Ushijima inquired. 

Oh. [Name] felt herself relax a little bit, but she's still tensed. It's not like her and Ushijima haven't exchanged kisses before nor is it rare for them to kiss, but Ushijima trapping her had her mind racing. She thought their relationship was about to take the next step forward and she's not sure if she's prepared for that. Plus it seems like Ushijima doesn't understand how intimate this looks either. 

"I'm going to tell you soon, Waka, but right now..." [Name] trailed off, looking down. "I'm not ready right now. Please understand that." She lets out a sigh, looking up at Ushijima. "I don't want to think about that right now. I want to be with you." 

Ushijima pulls away, scoping up [Name] into his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck, the male being strong enough to hold her and he strides off to her bedroom. He's not one to voice what's on his mind at times until he's ready and he has to accept that [Name]'s like that too, but she has more patient than he does. It's a little tricky, but she's willing to put up anything for him and he's the same too. 

Once inside [Name]'s bedroom, he places her on the bed gently and he sits on her bed too. She smiled, wrapping her arms around him from behind and falling back with his body on top of hers. She looks up at the ceiling as Ushijima's head is on her stomach. She runs her hands through his hair, a smile on her lips as she feels him place his hand on top of her leg. She definitely loves the physical contact between the two of them. 

"Are you spending the night?" [Name] asked, the boy closes his eyes. She looks over at the clock on her desk, seeing that it's past 10. "It's late right now." 

Ushijima lets out a hum. "I'll spend the night if it doesn't trouble you."

"It won't," [Name] mumbled, she lifts her body up a little. She looks down at Ushijima, his head falling on her lap. "Don't you have morning practice tomorrow?"

"Yeah," Ushijima replied. 

"What are--"

[Name] was cut off when Ushijima kisses her. His hand rests on the back of her neck and her hands go to his shoulders. She blushes, Ushijima pulling away and there's a genuine smile on his lips. He brushes [Name]'s hair away from her face and he placed another kiss on her lips once more. 

"I'm going to leave early in the morning," Ushijima explained, dropping his hand from her neck. "Morning runs are good."

[Name] nods her head. "Okay."

***

[Name] sits on the stage, her legs swinging as the boys' are doing their practice. She already practiced tapping her fingers and taking the tape off too. She's not really paying attention to the boys as she's in a much better mood after having Ushijima at her place last night. It was rather fun and she hasn't told Ushijima her situation yet either, but she promised him that she will soon. 

"Good job, everyone," Takeda announced, opening the doors. 

"Huddle up," Daichi yelled.

[Name] blinked in confusion. There's a man taller than Taekda standing next to him with bleached, blonde hair that's pulled back from his face with a headband. He's wearing a zipped up, red jacket and the sides of the jacket have a yellow stride with a black outline. She feels like she's seen this man before, but she can't figure out where.

"Let me introduce you," Takeda suggested. [Name] jumps down from the stage and she walks over to the boys. "This is Ukai-kun, who will be our coach starting today."

Everyone's eyes are wide, staring at Ukai. [Name] figured it's been a while and she knew that Takeda doesn't have enough information to be the coach of the team since he's a teacher. She's not trying to bash on Takeda either, but she's just stating the facts too.

"C-Coach?" Daichi questioned, catching Ukai's attention. "Is this true?

"Only 'til the match against Nekoma," Ukai stated. 

"But this is the guy from Sakanoshita Shop," Tanaka voiced, pointing at the man. "He's really a coach?"

[Name] nods her head. "So that's where I've seen him before." 

"He's a senpai to all of you," Takeda stated. Everyone looks at Takeda as they're still processing the information. "He's the grandson of Coach Ukai."

"What?"

Hinata steps forward. "But that's not the name on your store."

"The store's named after my mother's side of the family," Ukai informed, he puts his hands on his hips. "We got no time to waste. Let's get started. I want to see what you guys are made of. The game will start at 6:30 PM. The opponents have already been invited."

"Opponents?" [Name] voiced, tilting her head. 

Ukai smiles. "The Karasuno Neighborhood Association Team." 

[Name] nods her head, she goes back over to the stage and cleans up the mess she made. The boys get started on their practice and [Name] checks her phone, seeing that there's no messages. She figures that Ushijima is also doing practice like the boys are too. She'll text him that they got a limited coach at the moment when she gets home. 

"Hey." 

She looks up, seeing four men standing inside the gym. She raised an eyebrow, seeing one guy with glasses that has parted hair in the middle. The guy next to him has bleached hair like Ukai and short eyebrows. The man next to him has black, parted hair on the right side. And then finally, next to him is a man with brown, curly hair. 

"Hey."

"Wow."

"Brings back memories." 

The four men line up.

"Team Neighborhood Association... is here!"

Ukai approaches them. "Hey, guys, thanks for coming on short notice."

[Name] jumps down, knowing that Kiyoko isn't here so she's gonna help set up the board and basket of volleyballs. She writes on the scoreboard, one side that has Karasuno and the other side is Team Neighborhood Association. She stands there at the board, seeing the members get ready and gather for the practice match to start.

"Let's get started," Ukai called out.

"Yes!"

"It's a match!" Hinata exclaimed, running to the court. 

[Name] watched the interaction between Nishinoya, Daichi, and Ukai. She's aware that Nishinoya doesn't want to play without Azumane at all and Ukai kept pressuring Nishinoya to tell him a reason why, but Daichi and Nishinoya share a knowing look. Nishinoya runs to the Neighborhood Association team and [Name] feels bad. 

"Asahi-san!" [Name] looks over to Hinata, thinking that Azumane is here, but she only sees Hinata grabbing the bar window and looking out. "Asahi-san!"

[Name] and Tanaka run over to Hinata, [Name] grabs the bars too, trying to stand on her tippy-toes as she looks out the window to see Azumane outside the gym too and she noticed the black jacket he has on. She felt her chest swell with happiness at the thought of him joining them finally. 

"What? You're late? Who do you think you are?" Ukai barked, standing at the doors of the gym as he scolded Azumane. "What's your position?"

Azumane hesitated. "Wing spiker..."

"We're short on players," Ukai stated, pointing over his shoulder. "Hurry and warm up! Chop, chop!" 

[Name] gets down as Tanaka and Hinata do too, the three of them moving away. [Name] goes back over to the scoreboard, seeing Yamaguchi standing on the other side and she gives him a bright smile. The boy blushes, looking down and [Name] stands there, her gaze locked on the doors as she patiently waits for Azumane to enter the gym.

Once Azumane is done warming up, [Name] noticed a hand be placed on the door and out in his glory, Azumane steps forward into the gym. He has his gym shoes in his hand and everyone has a smile on their face except for Nishinoya and Tsukishima. Nishinoya observes Azumane's movement as the boy enters the gym and Tsukishima isn't one to be happy to see someone. 

"Now, we just need a setter," Ukai mumbled, his hand on his chin. "I wish I could do it, but I have to watch the game." Ukai looks at Sugawara and Kageyama, the only two setters in the team. "I need to borrow a setter from you guys."

[Name] watched as Sugawara and Kageyama stared at Ukai, but Sugawara looks down. She didn't forget that Sugawara complimented Kageyama as his skills as the setter. She had a feeling something like this was bound to happen since there's now two setters on the team. She watched Sugawara step forward. 

"Sugawara-san," Kageyama called out, Sugawara stopped walking. "You're not doing this for me, are you? If you're stepping down so I can step up, I'll refuse." 

"Ever since you joined the team as official setter, I've sort of been relieved," Sugawara stated. Everyone looks at him. "The setter is the pillar of our team's offense. He must be the toughest of everyone. But I never felt confident about throwing tosses. I've been scared the spikers would repeatedly be blocked because of my tosses. So I hid behind Kageyama's overwhelming abilities, and enjoyed the relief." Sugawara clenches his fist, shutting his eyes as his eyebrows are scrunched. "When I think of spikes getting blocked... It still scares me." Sugawara looks up, his gaze landing on Asahi. "But... Let me toss you again, Asahi. That's why I'll be on their team. Kageyama." Sugawara looks over his shoulder, smiling at Kageyama. "I won't let you outplay me."

"I won't, either," Kageyama replied. 

Sugawara smiles widely at Nishinoya. "Nishinoya, I'm counting on your nice receives."

Nishinoya looks to Asahi and [Name] smiled. She's glad that everyone's coming back together and stating their emotions and their wants. She stands at the scoreboard and Kiyoko stands on the other side as she couldn't wait to see the boys in action when playing volleyball. She sent a message to Ushijima, telling him that the old team is finally back with Asahi and Nishinoya.

"All right. Let's get ready," Daichi called out.

[Name] stands on the side with Karasuno written and Kiyoko is on the other side Neighborhood Assoc. It's the first set and [Name] holds a smile on her face. The whistle is blown as everyone says 'let's play.' On Karasuno's side, there's Daichi, Hinata, and Tanaka on the front line with Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Ennoshita on the back lines. On the Neighborhood Assoc. side, there's Azumane, Takinoue, and Uchizawa on the front line with Sugawara, Mori, and Shimada on the back line as for Nishinoya is standing on the outside of the court. 

So far, Karasuno and Neighborhood Assoc. have one point and they're still on the first set. [Name] watches as Neighborhood Assoc. had a nice receive which Sugawara setted to Takinoue who lands a point. Ennoshita tried to save the ball, but he wasn't able to and Ukai blew the whistle signifying that a point was scored. 

Kiyoko turns the flap so the scoreboard is now 2 points for Neighborhood Assoc. The two teams were complimenting each other which was nice to see and [Name] smiled. She definitely missed this a lot as the players get ready for the next part and a few players are talking among themselves. 

[Name]'s smile widens more at the sight of the quick from Hinata and Kageyama. The quick also surprised those in the Neighborhood Assoc. and [Name] changed the scoreboard so that Karasuno now has 2 points. Those in the Neighborhood Assoc. were in amaze at the sight of how fast the quick was while Hinata and Kageyama cheered for landing a point.

"That's what I want." [Name] heard Azumane state. 

She smiled, knowing that Azumane is now back into volleyball. He must feel a fire burning inside of him to want to play after witnessing what Hinata just did. She's glad. Very glad because she remembers the argument that happened between Azumane and Nishinoya after the match with Date Tech. Tanaka had told her what happened. 

"No matter how many times I fail, I still want to spike," Azumane announced.

Nishinoya lowers his body, preparing for the match. "Then, I'm fine." [Name] could see the content smile on Nishinoya's face. "Now that you said that, I'm fine."

It's Hinata's turn to serve. [Name] kept the smile on her face, watching Hinata throw the ball up and hit it. The ball falls towards the net, hitting the top of the net and the ball bounces off the net, but Shimada digs the ball. Uchizawa hits the ball up, [Name] could see Azumane tense up and this is probably the moment that will either break Azumane or not. 

Azumane takes off running, jumping up after Sugawara setted it to him. Azumane hits the ball and the ball bounces off Kageyama's arm, but Kageyama faltered. Just before the ball could hit the floor, Nishinoya saves it. 

"Nice Nishi!" [Name] exclaimed, jumping up and clapping. 

"Even if the ball bounces off the wall... I'll keep it in play," Nishinoya stated, looking at Azumane. "So call for a toss again, ace!"

[Name] watches as Sugawara's mind is thinking as the ball is falling towards him. This is also a crucial part to them as well since the toss could either boost Azumane's confidence or destroy it completely if Azumane gets blocked. [Name] bites her lip, clenching her hands into fists as she's waiting for what's gonna happen next.

"Sugawara-san!" Kageyama called out, his hands up as to prepare for a block. "Give it to him 'til he scores."

"You're a total sadistic, King," Tsukishima remarked.

"What?" 

Shimada raised his hand up. "All right!"

"Shimada-san--"

"Suga!"

Azumane's shout resonates and echoes throughout the gym. [Name]'s eyes are wide, her mouth agape as Azumane is calling for the toss with his hand raised high. Tears swell in [Name]'s eyes, overjoyed with Azumane and the ball lands in Sugawara's hands and tosses the ball over to Azumane. 

He watches the ball, backing up a little before charging towards the net. Azumane throws his arms back, jumping up as Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Tanaka jump up to block the spike. Azumane spikes the ball, the ball breaking through their arms and landing on the Karasuno side. Kageyama's and Tsukishima's eyes are wide, taken back by the amount of force that was behind the spike of the ball. 

"Nice kill, Asahi-san!" [Name] cheered, clapping her hands widely. 

Azumane looks over at the girl, seeing the happy and excited expression on her face as she's cheering for him. He smiled, the girl gives him a thumbs up and he returns it. Kiyoko adds a point onto the Neighborhood Assoc. side and [Name]'s overwhelming with those positive emotions. She really wish she could run over to Azumane and give him the tightest hug ever. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is shorter than the first one  
>  sorry about that, but i hope you guys enjoyed!


	3. Yearning

"Wow!"

"What a sound! Like, kaboom." 

"Nice. Nice, Asahi," Sugawara said. He looks to Nishinoya. "You, too, Nishinoya."

Asahi puts his hand behind his head. "You guys, too. Nice toss, Suga. Nice receive, Nishinoya." 

[Name] smiles, watching Sugawara and Nishinoya hold smiles on their faces after hearing Asahi's praise. She's so happy to see Asahi break through Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Tanaka. She doesn't dislike the three, but she wanted Asahi to get back into the sport so he can enjoy the feeling of landing a spike once more. She wants to see her boys flourish.

"You didn't jump at all!" Nishinoya stated, his eyes trained on Asahi. "That's because you've been ditching for a month."

"Yeah... I'm sorry," Asahi said, putting his hand back behind his head. 

"You're so strict, Nishi," [Name] called out, rolling her eyes at him. 

"Daichi-san," Tanaka said, looking to the captain.

"Asahi's back and on the neighborhood team with the veterans," Daichi stated, looking at the other side of the net. "We'd better step up our game." 

Tanaka smiles. "What are you saying, Daichi-san?" Tanaka points to himself. "We have me on our team."

"We have me on our team," Hinata said.

Hinata and Tanaka said it at the same time. [Name] smiles wider, knowing that Tanaka has the potential to be the ace too and she's aware that Hinata wants to be the ace too. She's glad to see some friendly rivalry on the team as everyone's trying their best although Tsukishima kinda plays half assed.

"What?"

"Don't talk over me, Hinata!" Tanaka barked, scaring Hinata. "I was saying something awesome and you wrecked it, jackass!" 

"Ryuu, don't scare the first-years!" [Name] scolded, scowling at him. "I'm sure Hinata didn't mean to."

"Yes, [Last Name]," Tanaka grumbled.

[Name] let out a sigh, shaking her head. Tanaka looks away from the girl, knowing that [Name] could be incredibly scary when she's not in her default mood which is nice. Plus, [Name] could probably knock his ass to the ground too and he rather that not happen to him too. It doesn't seem like a good experience despite what Nishinoya has said about her. 

"I'll save them, one after another, so don't worry about getting blocked," Nishinoya told Asahi.

[Name]'s glad for Nishinoya's words to Asahi. It'll give Asahi a little boost of confidence in his spikes knowing his back is covered. Although Asahi probably has a little fear in the back of his head of his spikes getting blocked. It's bound to happen with spikes getting blocked or the ball not being received which is fine, but those important saves will always change the course of a match.

"Come on, he's an ace. Everyone of his spikes will score," Sugawara added. 

"What?"

The referee blows the whistle, Neighborhood Ass. serving the ball. Ennoshita receives the ball and Daichi immediately calls out for a cover for the ball. Kageyama goes under the ball as Hinata is already running towards the net. Kageyama sets the ball to Hinata which Hinata quickly spikes the ball with Ukai and the others who aren't used to the quick attack in shock.

"Nice, Hinata, Kageyama," Tanaka praised, coming back onto the court.

[Name] changes the scoreboard for Karasuno as the team talks among themselves. Something that [Name] did notice was the fact that Hinata had his eyes closed. For Hinata to spike the ball with his eyes closed, Kageyama must be pretty damn good for being a setter. Or rather it's an instinct that Hinata has as to know when to hit the ball.

"Hey!" Ukai shouted, Hinata flinches and Ukai points at him. "Why did you jump there, Shrimpy?"

"Shr-- B-Because the toss will come to wherever I jump," Hinata answered. 

_'Shrimpy?'_ [Name] giggled. Although, [Name] and Nishinoya are part of the short squad with their heights too. Her and Nishinoya might be called Shrimpy by Ukai because of their height alone. She rather not be called Shrimpy.

"What's the matter with you guys?" Ukai questioned, flabbergasted by the duo. "Are you freaks?"

"What? Freaks?" The two questioned.

Hinata looks to Kageyama. "But why?"

"How would I know?" Kageyama remarked, looking at Hinata.

Tsukishima laughed, angrying Kageyama.

"Tsukishima, what's so funny?"

[Name] could understand why Ukai called Kageyama and Hinata freaks. Hinata has so much energy or rather, stamina within him and he's able to keep jumping or running. While Kageyama knows how to play as a setter and he's incredibly good at it too. She remembers why Kageyama was called King of the Court because he was demanding and criticizing so much. Now, he has someone who could match with his tosses.

The referee blows the whistle, the ball falls into Sugawara's hands and he sets it to Asahi which spikes the ball. The referee blows the whistle again and Kiyoko adds a point for the Neighborhood Ass.. The team talks about Asahi's parallel spike, which was pretty good in [Name]'s opinion, and it seems like Tanaka is just as excited as her to have Asahi back.

Sugawara and Asahi slap hands and flashed each other a thumbs up. She's glad to see them getting along well. The two teams keep playing, scoring points while spiking, setting tosses, blocking spikes, and doing the receives. [Name]'s eyes are trained on the ball, watching as it's getting moved around between the two teams.

"Karasuno is pretty good right now," Ukai shouted, [Name] looks over to see Ukai hit Takeda pretty hard on his back. She flinched, wondering if Takeda is gonna get a bruise from that. "Why didn't you tell me sooner, Sensei?"

"I did tell you, repeatedly," Takeda informed, fixing his glasses. 

Kageyama sets the ball, Hinata jumping for it, but the toss is for Daichi. Daichi jumps up and spikes the ball, the referee blowing the whistle to signify a point was scored. [Name] looks at the scoreboard as she added a point for Karasuno, which they're at 19 points. The Neighborhood Assoc. is ahead with 24 points. 

With the new rotation, Hinata and Asahi are at the front for their teams. The referee blows the whistle and Daichi serves the ball. Nishinoya is able to receive the ball without a problem and Sugawara sets the ball to Asahi. Asahi jumps up, his eyes looking for a place to hit the parallel spike until Hinata jumps up as well and Asahi hits the ball. The ball bounces off Hinata's fingers for a one touch, but Daichi isn't able to catch up to the ball. 

The referee blows the whistle again as the first set is over with the Neighborhood Assoc. winning the first set. By now, the sun is almost done in setting as the sky is turning a deep blow and [Name] along with Kiyoko are giving out water bottles. She hands a few team members a water bottle with a kind smile on her face and those she gave them to, said thank you with a blush on their cheeks. 

[Name] takes her phone out, opening the messages she has with Ushijima.

**_[Name]_ **

**_the team and i are going to have a practice with Nekoma soon_ **

**_im kinda excited for it_ **

[Name] puts her phone away as everyone hurries to finish their breaks so the second set can be played. As the second set starts, Karasuno and Neighborhood Assoc. has two points, but [Name] is now adding points for the Neighborhood Assoc. and Kiyoko is adding points for Karasuno. There's communication between the Neighborhood Assoc. team as Asahi calls out to the left with his hand raised. 

Asahi jumps up, his eyes on the ball as Kageyama and Tsukishima tried to block the ball. [Name]'s eyes widen when Daichi called out Hinata's name as Asahi spikes the ball. The ball hitting Hinata square in the fast and the boy is knocked back as everyone let out gasps of shock at what happened. 

"Hinata!" [Name] exclaimed.

She runs over to the boy, his body laying on the ground as Asahi, Nishinoya, and Sugawara also go after [Name]. [Name] falls to her knees, her hands hovering above Hinata's body as the boy is holding his head and she could see the red mark on his forehead. He lets out a groan as more people come around [Name] and Hinata. 

"Oh, he's alive," Tanaka said, watching [Name] push Hinata's hands away from his head. 

"Are you all right?" Nishinoya asked, Asahi freaking out beside [Name]. 

"Hinata," [Name] called out, her voice is calm. "How are you feeling? Does anything hurt besides your throbbing forehead?"

"A-A-Ambulance..." Takeda mumbled. 

"Relax, Sensi," Ukai suggested.

Hinata sits forward, [Name] looking at the boy in concern and he blushes when he feels her hands on his face. She feels around his forehead with gentle, but firm fingers. She honestly wasn't expecting Hinata to be hit in the head, but he seemed like he did spaceout. As she feels around for anything that might seem broken. 

"I'm fine, sorry about that," Hinata said. 

"You should take a break," [Name] suggested, she drops her hands from his face as she sits back on her legs. "I can get you some ice that you can put that on."

"R-Really, I'm fine," Hinata said, looking at [Name]. "I just couldn't dodge it. It's no big deal. Besides, I'm used to getting hit in the face."

"Don't get used to it..." Sugawara said. 

Hinata lets out a laugh and [Name] shakes her head. Hinata stops laughing and he looks downright terrified. She follows his line of sight to see Hinata looking at the fuming Kageyama that's glaring at Hinata. [Name] feels intimidated from the livid Kageyama and she's glad that it's not directed at her although she feels bad for Hinata. 

"Why were you distracted in the middle of the match?" Kageyama questioned, taking a step forward.

Hinata gets up quickly and backs away as Kageyama steps towards Hinata. Every step back that Hinata takes, Kageyama steps forward. [Name] looks between Hinata and Kageyama, seeing Hinata as he avoids looking Kageyama in the eyes. 

"I know why," Kageyama said, Hinata lets out a gasp and looks to him. "The ace is cool. But your number one use is as a decoy, which is humble and uncool. You're thinking you could be an ace, too, if only you had height and power like Asahi-san."

"I-I wasn't thinking that!" Hinata stammered, but he ends up looking away. "Or... maybe, sort of..."

"Once you found out there's an ace, not only did you feel curiosity and admiration, but you were envious of him, weren't you?" Kageyama accused, a hand on his hip. Hinata lets out a gasp, looking at Kageyama with wide eyes. "Don't think unnecessary things in the middle of a match."

Hinata pulls his lips into a thin line. "So I envy him. What's wrong with that? You're tall! You'd never understand!"

"Oi," Daichi called out.

"Hey, volleyball club!" A teacher called out, standing at the doors. "It's closing time. Put everything away."

Takeda approaches the teacher. "I'm sorry, but please wait until the match is finished."

"But it's late," the teacher argured. 

"I'll take responsibility for closing up," Takeda assured. 

[Name] looks at Hinata, the air around them is tense with Hinata's words. She's aware of how Hinata feels about his height and his jealousy towards Asahi, but he has to be optimistic. [Name]'s sure that Hinata is still a growing boy and he'll probably get a few more inches added to his height so he should look forward to that. However, she also understands that Hinata is short right now and he wants to be the ace with the height and power of Asahi.

Takeda was able to convince the teacher. Takeda closes the doors and Daichi tells him that he appreciates what he did too. As Daichi, Takeda, and Tanaka somehow lift the tense air, it still feels a little tense to [Name] as there's the elephant in the room. [Name] lets out a sigh and she placed a hand on Hinata's shoulder. 

"If you don't feel good, come to me and I'll help you," [Name] informed.

Hinata nods his head and [Name] walks back over to the scoreboard. The game continues as it should and the Neighborhood Assoc. has 14 points and in the lead while Karasuno has 8 points. The team let out shouts as they're preparing for the ball to be serve and [Name]'s eyes fall on Kageyama as he calls out to the other team.

Kageyama points at Hinata. "I'm tossing to this guy next. Please block him with everything you've got."

"What?" Takinoue hissed, narrowing his eyes at Kageyama. "Are you calling us out?"

"Yes, I'm calling you out," Kageyama stated, dropping his arm. Takinoue and Asahi let out a noise of shock. "Please forgive my cocky attitude." Kageyama bows to them.

Takinoue lets out a laugh. "What an interesting guy. Okay. You can call me out."

"Thanks."

"What's he thinking?" [Name] heard Ukai asked. "A quick attack's only effective if they can't see it coming, but he just revealed the plan to them. There's no way that Shrimpy can take them on now." 

"We'll block him for sure," Takinoue boasted, a smirk on his face. 

[Name] looks at Hinata then to Kageyama. She ponders if Kageyama did that to give Hinata a boost of confidence. She's remembers what Hinata said about wanting the height and power of Azumane. Perhaps Kageyama is trying to prove to Hinata that Hinata doesn't need that to score a point. If she's spot on or if there's another reason, which ever it may be, she'd like to see the outcome. 

"You can jump well, and you're fast, but you're lousy overall," Kageyama stated, he looks over his shoulder at Hinata. "You'll never be an ace, the pillar of the team."

"Oi," Tanaka growled.

"Th-That's going a little..." Azumane said. 

"But!" Kageyama yelled, turning around to face Hinata. "As long as I'm here, you're invincible. Azumane-san's spike has awesome power. He can slam past three blockers."

Azumane flinches. "Well, not every time..."

"Don't get so rattled!" Nishinoya yelled. 

"So how about you, then?" Kageyama questioned, looking at Hinata. "Whenever I toss to you, do you ever get blocked?" 

[Name] smiled, glad to see this type of relationship between Hinata and Kageyama is kinda like Nishinoya and Azumane. It's refreshing to see how someone could pick up their teammate and give them confidence. Besides that, she's glad to see how confident Kageyama is about his ability to be a setter too.

Shimada serves the ball, Ennoshita receiving the ball without a problem. Hinata is hesitant about running, there's three blockers that are ready for him and [Name] isn't sure what the outcome will be. What she does know, is that she can trust her team to make the impossible possible no matter what.

"Dodge them!" Kageyama yelled. "What else can you do, airhead?"

Hinata takes off running, his fast pace shocking the three blockers and the blockers follow his movement. Hinata changes his movement, about to jump, but in the last second, he runs to the other side of the court. Hinata jumps up and Kageyama sets the ball to Hinata, the boy being able to hit the ball with his eyes wide open. 

Shimada was able to touch the spike, but he wasn't able to receive it. The ball bounces off, everyone looking at the ball and [Name] smiled. She wish she could play volleyball again like that. She understands how reliable Karasuno's players can be after seeing the display of trust in this practice match. She's able to see that reliability flourish once more in this team.

"You're no ace," Kageyama started, looking at Hinata. "But with your speed and spring, and with my toss, you can face any blocker. The point scored by the ace's slam, and the point you scored by dodging, are both scored points. So you don't wear a crown with 'ace' written on it. All you have to do is score lots of points. That's why our opponents will mark you. Plus, by acting as a decoy, you'll free up other spikers. Including the ace. Right?" 

Tanaka flinches, not prepared to see Kageyama look at him. "Huh? Yeah. Yeah, that's right. You being a decoy makes a huge difference to our success rate."

"Do you still think your position is uncool?" Kageyama asked, narrowing his eyes at Hinata. 

Kageyama starts panting and there's silence. Kageyama looks down at his hand, seeing the red mark after spiking the ball hard. [Name] smiles, starting to think that Kageyama is cool with his speech about wanting to change Hinata's perspective on being a decoy. It's cute and it's very admirable for Kageyama to do that. 

"I don't," Hinata responded, his voice soft.

"Huh?!" Kageyama asked.

Hinata closed his hand into a fist. "I don't!"

"Good," Kageyama said.

"You're so cool, Kageyama!" [Name] cheered, smiling at the boy.

Kageyama blushed, averting his gaze from [Name]'s kind and beautiful smile. Her bubbly and flowery aura projecting from her as she clasps her hands together. She giggles from the boy's flustered state after being complimented and Kageyama blushes more. She's glad to see Kageyama lift Hinata's spirits like that. 

"That last slam was amazing," Azumane informed, smiling at Hinata. 

Hinata lets out a gasp, a blush on his cheeks from the praise. 

Kageyama bows to Daichi. "I apologize for interrupting practice." 

Hinata runs over too, bowing to Daichi. "I apologize." 

"Please allow us..." Kageyama started, the two boys standing up. "...to continue the match!" 

The last part of the sentence was finished. 

Tanaka takes a step forward. "All right, let's catch up!"

"Yeah."

[Name] smiles, looking down as the matches continues. Karasuno scores another point from Kageyama and Hinata and [Name]'s glad to see Hinata much happier. She watches as Shimada does a jump floater serve, her eyes watching the ball make it over the net and start to fall down. Hinata tries to dig the ball, but unfortunately, the Neighborhood Assoc. scores the point. 

"Take that," Shimada laughs.

"How immature," Takinoue commented.

[Name] changes the scoreboard as Shimada is the server again. Shimada does the same thing, the jump float and it's hard to tell where the ball will fall. Tanaka is able to touch the ball with the side of his arm, but he isn't able to receive it either. Shimada does the jump float serve again, Tsukishima isn't able to receive it either as the Neighborhood Assoc. is able to gain more points because of the jump float serve. 

The Neighborhood Assoc. has scored four points in the row and they're closing to winning the second set. [Name] shakes her head, knowing that the team gotta work on receiving the ball. Shimada does the jump float serve again and luckily, Daichi was able to receive the ball without trouble. 

Hinata jumps up as Azumane, Takinoue, and Uchiazawa jump up to block Hinata, but Kageyama sets the ball to Tanaka. Tanaka spikes the ball and Nishinoya dives, receiving the ball. Sugawara holds a smile on his face as Azumane calls for the spike and Sugawara sets the ball to him. Azumane spikes the ball through the arms of the blockers and lands within the court. 

The referee blows the whistle as the Neighborhood Assoc. wins the second set and the win the practice match. The Neighborhood Assoc. team gather around and do a cheer since they won. 

\---

"Receiving. We're nothing if we can't receive," Ukai stated, a serious look on his face. "Starting tomorrow, you've got rigorous training ahead."

[Name] and Kiyoko watch the boys gather around Ukai and Takeda. The boys said goodbye and thanks to the Neighborhood Association for playing against them as a practice match. She hasn't gotten a message from Ushijima the entire time she's been at the practice and she wonders if everything is okay with him. Although, he's probably busy.

"Right."

"Thanks," Daichi yelled, bowing his head.

The rest of the team yelled thanks and they bowed too. 

"And don't forget to stretch," Ukai added. 

"Stretches!" 

"Right." 

[Name] smiled, seeing the boys starting their stretches. She goes over to the stage and she starts to clean up her mess from the first aid kit. The boys hurried to finish their stretching and they started to clean up the gym. [Name] and Kiyoko refilled the water bottles, putting them back and a few boys go over to grab water to refresh their hydration levels. 

She feels her phone buzz in her pocket and she takes her phone out. It's a new message from Ushijima and she opens her phone.

**_Wakatoshi_ **

**_I'm outside_ **

[Name]'s face flushed heavily, looking at the barred windows if she saw Ushijima's face and luckily, she doesn't see him. She lets out a sigh, shaking her head and she hears Ukai clap his hands. [Name] and the boys look over to Ukai, gazing at their limited captain as he gathers the team's attention easily. 

"All right. Let's huddle up and finish practice," Ukai announced. 

[Name] and Kiyoko walk over to Ukai and Takeda, standing with them. The boys stand in a circle with their arms around each other as they huddle around. [Name] smiles, a blush still on her cheeks because she's aware that Ushijima is either outside the gates or he's outside the gym. However, the sight of the team back together with new members is a warming sight that she'll always love to see.

"Karasuno... Fight!" Daichi yelled.

"Yeah!" 

[Name] hurries towards the doors. "I'll see you guys tomorrow! Have a nice night!" 

The boys watch as [Name] exits the doors and they could tell she seems like she's in a hurry. [Name] holds a smile on her lips as she's running towards the gates as she's excited to see Ushijima once again. She loves spending time with him and being with him too, but she knows that her attitude probably seems weird because [Name] leaves a rush. She normally takes her time. 

"Waka!" [Name] yelled.

As she turns the corner, seeing Ushijima standing there and she jumps into his arms. She wraps her arms around his neck as her feet dangle from the ground. Ushijima lets out a chuckle, his arms wrapped around her and holding her above the ground too. They embrace each other and [Name] has the biggest smile on her face as she pulls away slightly, but the giant still holds her close.

"Let's go home!" [Name] exclaimed. 

Ushijima nodded his head and he puts [Name] back down. She reaches for his hand, the two of them walking in the direction of [Name]'s house as she talks about her day with Ushijima saying a few words. She couldn't believe that Ushijima is walking her home again and it being the second time in a row too! She's so overwhelmingly happy that she nor Ushijima noticed the curious eyes watching them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for waiting, i hope you enjoyed reading!


	4. Decision

"All here?" Ukai called out.

"Yeah!"

[Name], Kiyoko, and the team all face Ukai and Takeda. She's excited for the practice match against Nekoma and she can't wait to see how the boys will do against them. She's not familiar with the teammates on Nekoma, but she hopes she'll make friends with the managers on Nekoma. There's not a lot of sports medics for volleyball teams. 

"The practice match against Nekoma is in four days," Ukai informed, standing in front of the volleyball team. "Inter-High preliminaries will be soon thereafter. We've got no time, but you guys are full of holes. Since that's the case, there's only one way for you to win. Practice. Practice. And practice. Save the ball, even if you have to barf." 

"Yeah!" Hinata exclaimed.

[Name] sits on the stage, watching the team receive the spikes that Ukai is giving them. Kiyoko is handing Ukai the ball and he spikes them to whoever is up next to receive them. Each person has to perfectly receive the ball five times so they can practice receiving. [Name] already know that Daichi and Nishinoya are the ones who have mastered the skill of receiving the ball. 

"Next!" Ukai yelled.

Yamaguchi walks over to where the others are standing which is near the stage. [Name] grabs a water bottle and hands it to Yamaguchi and she smiles kindly at him. Yamaguchi blushes heavily, taking the water bottle with a quiet thanks and she chuckles, sitting back on the stage. After everyone had went through receiving the ball, it's spikes that's next. 

Ukai gets down from the stand he was on. "All right. Spiking practice next."

"Yeah!" 

[Name] watches either Sugawara or Kageyama set the ball to those spiking. [Name] looks at their temporary coach, seeing his happy and shocked expressions after watching Hinata and Azumane spike the ball. She chuckles, hoping that Ukai will be their full time coach, but she has high hopes that Ukai is going to stay with the team.

\---

"Okay, let's get going," Daichi said. 

[Name] lets out a tired yawn, watching Hinata approach the place that the team is going to be staying at. Kiyoko isn't spending the night here since she lives nearby the place and she offered [Name] to spend the night, but [Name] didn't want to burden the girl. She leans against Tanaka, the shaved haired boy leaning against her too as they stare at the building. 

"Wow! This is where we're staying?" Hinata questioned, his eyes widen. 

[Name] enters ahead of them, letting the boys roam around the place and she goes to the cafetera she's staying at. Ukai made sure to have [Name] at the end of the hall and away from the boys too. Plus [Name] has to call Ushijima too so they can do their nightly calls so they can keep in touch if they're not seeing each other in person. 

She enters the kitchen, putting on apron and Kiyoko nods her head at [Name]. [Name] smiles at her in response and she ties up her hair, not wanting to get any strands of hair in their food. [Name], Kiyoko, and Takeda set the table, putting plates, utensils, and the food on the a large table and another large table. 

Once everyone settles in, [Name] sits in between Sugawara and Nishinoya. Everyone holds their hands as they say 'Thank you for the food.' [Name] starts eating her food slowly, seeing how fast that Hinata and Kageyama are digging into their food. She could feel her stomach hurt at the sight of how fast they're eating. 

"Hinata, Kageyama, if you don't slow down you're going to get a stomach ache," [Name] advised. 

The two boys slow down their eating by a tad bit. She lets out a sigh and she noticed that Nishinoya and Tanaka had already eaten their food so quickly. Nishinoya and Tanaka are out of their seats as Kiyoko asks if anyone wants seconds. [Name] smiles, knowing that the two boys have a huge crush on Kiyoko and she knows only one of them, if they had a chance, will catch her attention. 

She finishes her food, patting her belly with a smile on her face. 

"Already full?" Sugawara questioned, smiling at her. 

[Name]. "Yeah. Are you full, Suga-san?" 

"Not yet, but I will be," Sugawara laughed. 

"I'll see you guys in the morning," [Name] said, standing up from her seat. "Good night, boys!" 

"Night [Last Name]!" 

[Name] exits the cafetera, letting out a yawn as she covers her mouth. She felt full from the dinner and she's glad that she was able to eat with the team like that. She looks down at the ground, a smile spreading on her lips and she takes out her phone, sending a quick message to Ushijima that she's going to call him in a little bit. 

"[Last Name]." 

She turns around, seeing Tsukishima and Yamaguchi. She blinks at confusion at the sight of two of them. She tilted her head, "Is there something you two need? Stomach ache from eating too much?" 

"Who was that guy you were with the other day?" Tsukishima questioned. 

Yamaguchi jumps at his straight forwardness. "Tsuki!" 

[Name] blinks a few times, her mind racing at the thought of them catching her with Ushijima. She can't tell them that Ushijima is a friend because [Name] isn't one to hold hands with her guy friends. Plus if [Name] can remember correctly, the hug she shared with Ushijima is one that's definitely not one you share with friends. [Name] pulled her lips into a thin line, knowing that she shouldn't hide it. It's bound to come out anyways. 

"That was Ushijima Wakatoshi," [Name] started, letting out a sigh. "He's my boyfriend. I didn't want to tell you guys because it's my private life and I'm asking you guys to please keep it to yourselves." 

"Why don't you want to tell everyone else?" Yamaguchi asked. 

[Name] gives a pained smile. "If I go through a breakup, I don't want other people to know is all." 

Tsukishima turns his back to [Name]. "I won't tell anyone." [Name] lets out a sigh of relief, relaxing a bit, but Tsukishima looks over his shoulder at her. "But I'm going to use this as blackmail in the future." 

[Name] looks at the tall blonde, watching him walk away as [Name] is left stunned. Perhaps she should have been careful about being so open with her relationship with Ushijima. She should have made sure that there wasn't anyone around when she goes to meet up with him. She was careless one time and now it's going to cost her. 

Yamaguchi gives [Name] a nervous smile. "I'll make sure Tsuki won't tell anyone." 

"Thank you, Yamaguchi," [Name] cried, tears swelling in her eyes. 

Yamaguchi's eyes widen and he steps forward, but stops when Tsukishima calls out his name. [Name] watches Yamaguchi bow his head and he hurries after Tsukishima, leaving [Name] there as she's still somewhat left stunned. She's glad for Yamaguchi, but she's afraid of Tsukishima. Even if he does tell the team or anyone else, it's going to blow up simply because Ushijima is one of the top three aces in the country. 

***

"You're stalling. Don't swing your arms," Ukai called out, standing on a table.

[Name], the team, Kiyoko, Ukai, and Takeda are back in the gym. The team is practicing with receiving the ball again because the team does need to work on their receiving and their overall defense all though the team has Daichi and Nishinoya. But sometimes the team can't just always rely on them in future matches. 

"Yeah. One more!" Hinata yelled. 

Ukai spikes the ball and Hinata dives to save it. [Name] could tell that Hinata is getting a little bit better with receiving and she's glad to see him improving. 

"Nice, Hinata!" Tanaka praised. 

"That's five successful receives," Kiyoko informed. 

"All right. That's the whole rotation," Ukai said, getting down from the table. "Next, running!" 

[Name] watches the team remove their inside shoes to their outdoor shoes. She wishes she could join them on their running and [Name] knows that she's able to run since she was out of the hospital. She always wanted to run again or do some type of sports activity when she sees other people do it. She wishes to join them so much.

"They sure have a lot of energy even though they have to train during summer vacation," Takeda observed, his eyes on the team. 

Ukai takes a sip from his water bottle. "I saw Kageyama jogging at dawn."

"Oh, Hinata-kun was, too," Takeda informed. "He said it's because there's no mountain crossing at the lodge."

"Mountain crossing?" Ukai asked, looking at Takeda. He looks away from the teacher. "That's why he's got all that stamina."

"Coach!" [Name] called out, jumping down the stage. Ukai looks at her. "Is it okay if I go buy some ice cream for the team? I'll use my own money." 

Ukai nodded his head. "Sure." 

"Thanks!" 

[Name] leaves the gym as she hears about Ukai being undecided about the setter for the official team. She knows it's a hard decision to make because Kageyama is talented and Sugawara has been the setter and he's in his third year. [Name] goes off towards a store, not the one that Ukai works at, but an ice cream parlor so the team has a range of picking which type of ice cream. 

She looks around, deciding what place would be a good area to get ice cream. She knows one that's near Shiratorizawa and that one has good ice cream there, but it'll take [Name] forever to walk there and back with the ice cream. And if she does go there, there's a chance that the ice cream will melt and she wouldn't want that. Melted ice cream isn't the best sometimes.

[Name] lets out a yelp, bumping into a chest and she stumbles back a little until a hand grabs her wrist. She looks up, her eyes widening at the handsome face in front of her and she blushes. The boy is taller than her and he has messy, black hair that kinda looks like a bedhead. He has a fringe on his right side of his face that covers his right eye and his hazel eyes bore into [Name]'s own eyes. 

"I'm sorry about that," the man said, giving her a charming smile. 

[Name] blushes more. She knows she's in a relationship with Ushijima and she doesn't plan on cheating either, but she always gets nervous around really attractive people. That's why she doesn't really talk to Kiyoko as much because that girl is beautiful and [Name] feels nervous around her all the time. But this time, [Name] has bumped into an attractive boy that knows he himself is attractive. 

"I should have paid attention," [Name] mumbled, looking down. "I was distracted." 

The boy smiles, letting go of her wrist. "You seem like you're in a hurry, Manager-chan." 

"Manager-chan?!" [Name] gasped, her eyes widening. 

"I'll see you later, Manager-chan!" The boy said, walking away from her. 

[Name] stands there in shock, watching the boy walk away. She takes in his physical body, seeing how board his shoulders are and his arms too. GOD DAMN. He's wearing a black shirt with red sweatpants that have white and black on the side of the pants. He's holding a red jacket too as he's walking away. 

\---

[Name] returns to the gym, the boys already back from their run. She gives them smiles as she places the bag of ice cream she bought. The boys surround her as she places the bag of ice cream on the stage. Tanaka and Nishinoya are at her sides, seeing the ice cream and she could see the excited look in their eyes. Daichi grabs the two of them by the back of their shirt and pull them away from [Name]. 

"Thanks Daichi-san," [Name] laughed. She smiles at the boys. "This ice cream will be for tonight! You still have to eat your lunch and dinner!" 

The boys let out whines as [Name] chuckles. She sits on the stage, watching the boys continue practice, and she can't help, but think about the boy she ran into. She's never seen those colors of the jersey before in Miyagi so it must be a team that's not from there. [Name]'s eyes widen, realizing that those colors are Nekoma's colors. 

Plus the boy said 'see you soon' too. He's probably from Nekoma. Fuck, she hopes he's not an official player on the team because if he is, she's going to be a mess around him if he talks to her. 

\---

"Thank you for the food!"

[Name] looks at Kageyama and Hinata, seeing how fast the boys are eating their rice. Even after she told them that they shouldn't eat fast, but then again, they are growing boys. [Name]'s eyes land on Tsukishima and Yamaguchi, seeing those two first years look at the other two first years and she couldn't believe that Tsukishima is willingly going to blackmail her if he tries. She couldn't believe him. 

"Where does that appetite come from?" Tsukishima questioned, looking at the duo in disgust. 

Nishinoya appears behind Yamaguchi and Tsukishima. "Hey, eat. Eat even if you can't eat anymore! It's midsummer. Just look at you guys. You'll shrivel up and croak if you don't eat."

"You're eating more than usual today, Suga," Azumane said, looking at Sugawara. 

[Name] takes her attention away from the first years, smiling at Sugawara. "Yeah! Why, Suga-san?" 

"I'll eat a lot, and give it my all," Sugawara said, smiling down at his food and taking a bite.

"Yamaguchi, you're not eating that?" [Name] hears Hinata ask. 

Nishinoya points at Hinata. "Hey! Let Yamaguchi eat his own food!" 

"Nishi!" [Name] yelled, scowling at the boy. He flinches. "Stop being so loud!" 

Nishinoya slouches his shoulders. "Sorry..." 

***

"For the Nekoma battle, this will be our starting order," Ukai informed, holding a whiteboard in front of him.

There's magnetic buttons on it with the names of those on the official team. Sawamura is a wing spiker, Hinata is a middle blocker, and Tanaka is a wing spiker for the front row. The back row is Azumane as a wing spiker, Nishinoya as the libero or Tsukishima as a middle blocker, and Kageyama as the setter. 

The boys with their names on the small whiteboard are standing on the court. Those that aren't on the court are Yamaguchi, Ennoshita, Kinoshita, Narita, and Sugawara. [Name] wishes that everyone could play on the court, but there's only six players that are allowed on the court. Although, [Name]'s sure that Ukai will give those who aren't on the court time on the court. 

"It's a configuration you're barely used to, so I'm not expecting you to synchronize right away," Ukai continued, looking at those on the court. "We now have an amazing libero, and the ace has returned, but don't rely on those facts or think victory is assured." Ukai narrows his eyes. "Victory goes to the team that connects. Let's see how this configuration works in the battle against Karasuno's long-standing rival, Nekoma."

"Yeah!"

[Name] gets the first aid-kit ready as the players get started on setting up the court with the holder of the volleyballs. Everyone is going around as they get ready as [Name] hears Nishinoya talk to Azumane and everyone was paying attention to Ennoshita as he spoke, but [Name] wasn't paying any attention to him. Her eyes are on Tsukishima.

That dirty, tall ass motherfucker is going to blackmail her. [Name] couldn't believe that he actually mentioned that blackmailing her. The balls that blonde, first year has to be able to pull some shit like that off. It's annoying and she wish she could tell him not to, but that's risking the secret of her and Ushijima dating. 

***

[Name] lets out a yawn, seeing Kiyoko walk into the gym with the bags of the volleyball uniform. She smiled as she jumped down from the stage and missed a ball aiming for her face. She made her way over to Takeda and Kiyoko as Ukai called out for the boys to get their uniforms. [Name] sees Hinata hold up his Number 10 jersey and she smiles, seeing the happy look on his face. 

"Wow..." Hinata gasped, his eyes wide. "It's the one I saw on TV." Hinata looks over at Nishinoya, seeing that he's wearing all orange, but with black on the sides. "But only Noya-san is orange. You stand out."

"Of course. After all, I have the leading role," Nishinoya said, talking proudly. 

"Leading role?" Hinata asked, letting out an awe noise. 

"The libero goes on and off the court frequently during the match," [Name] informed, standing next to Hinata. 

Kageyama looks over to Hinata. "He's the only one that needs to be noticeable. Idiot."

"I know that. I totally know that," Hinata said. He looks at Kageyama's jersey then back down at his. "Kageyama is one notch higher than me..." 

"I knew he was going to say that," Tanaka and Tsukishima said, smirks on their faces.

"Just be grateful we first-years get to wear a uniform at all," Kageyama said, holding his jersey in his arms. 

"I know."

"Yeah, I guess you don't remember that number," Daichi said, starting the sentence. 

Sugawara smiles. "...because you saw it only once on TV, right?"

"The Little Giant wore #10 when he went to nationals," Daichi informed. 

[Name] smiles, seeing Hinata's eyes widen at the information Daichi said. She's aware that Hinata looks up to the Little Giant because the Little Giant is or about the same height as Hinata and he went to nationals. Hinata wants to be just like him or follow in the Little Giant's path. [Name]'s sure that Hinata will probably go far. She can see it in him and Kageyama. 

"Was this your thoughtful idea, Coach?" Hinata questioned, smiling at the temporary coach. 

Ukai shakes his head. "Nope, just a coincidence."

"Then, it's destiny," Hinata said, smiling at the jersey in his hands.

"It's a coincidence," Kageyama said. 

Hinata puts a hand on Kageyama's arm. "Don't be jealous, Kageyama-kun."

"Why would I be jealous?" Kageyama barked. 

[Name] laughs, Hinata and Kageyama blush at hearing her laughter. She's going to look forward to more of their interactions with each other. She's always liked how the team interacts, but the only problem is Tsukishima. He's the only problem she has about the team since he wants to blackmail her. She doesn't even know why he wants to do that to her in the first place. 

"By the way," Ukai called out, catching the team's attention. "The Little Giant that Hinata admires played on the best team Karasuno's ever had. But even then, Karasuno never defeated Nekoma. Not even once. It was one loss after another." Ukai smiles at the team. "I want you to turn the tables on them."

"Yeah."

"Okay, let's start practice," Ukai said. 

"Yeah."

[Name] sees the team scramble off as they prepare for practice. She's growing excited for the practice match against Nekoma and she's also nervous too because of that boy she bumped into. Plus she has to worry about Tsukishima wanting to blackmail her, her relationship with Ushijima because she still has to tell him the truth, and her father too. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for waiting!  
>  i hope y'all enjoyed!  
>  kuroo showed up <.< he's also one of my favorite boys


	5. The Neko-Karasuno Reunion

[Name] stands with Kiyoko as the Karasuno team stands in front of the Nekoma team. Her eyes widen, landing on the familiar face she saw the other day and she looks away when he looks at her. There's a blush on her cheeks as she could feel his gaze just burning on her and she pouts. Since the boy is standing in front of Daichi, he's probably the captain of the team too. 

"Ah!" Hinata shouted, his eyes widening when he looks at Kenma. 

The Nekoma team walks towards the gymnasium. [Name] stays with Kiyoko, too afraid that the captain of the Nekoma team is going to approach her. [Name] watches Kenma and begins talking with him, from overhearing their conversation, Hinata and Kenma have already met and know each other's names. That's good.

"What business might you have with our setter?" A man that has a shaved head with a blonde mohawk asked. He's almost like Tanaka, [Name] ponders if that boy might be Tanaka's long-lost brother from another family. 

Kenma looks at the boy. "It's fine." 

"S-Sorry..." Hinata said, backing up.

"You, too..." Tanaka said, glaring at the boy. Hinata had backed up into Tanaka and Hinata jumps away. "What business might you have with our first-year?"

"Is there a problem?" 

"Wanna fight, city boy?"

"We're going to 'fight,'" Sugawara stated, raising an eyebrow at Tanaka's antics. "That's why we're here to play the match. And stop the 'city boy' thing. It's embarrassing."

"Suga-san's right," [Name] laughed. 

"Yamamoto, you're always quick to pick a fight. Stop it," A short boy with light brown hair said. "It makes you look stupid."

[Name] and Kiyoko watch as Sugawara and the short boy from Nekoma walk towards each other. The two girls looked at each other then back at the two players. [Name] isn't able to see what numbers they are because they aren't wearing their jerseys and are simply wearing the red pants with the red jackets and black shirt underneath. 

"I'm sorry about that," the short boy said, rubbing the back of his head. "He's an embarrassment."

Sugawara laughs. "I'm sorry, too. I'm embarrassed."

The boy, Yamamoto lets out a gasp, his hand clutching his shirt. His eyes land on Kiyko and [Name], the two girls walking towards the doors. Someone calls out [Name]'s name and she stops in her tracks, turning to the side with a smile on her face and she hears Yamamoto let out a loud gasp. [Name] looks over, seeing the boy have a blush on his cheeks. 

"Two ladies... managers... beautiful..." Yamamoto said, walking backwards. 

"Score!" Another Nekoma said.

"Two lady managers." 

The two boys, one short with black hair and one tall with brown hair turned towards each other. They both have smiles on their faces as they said, "We win yakisoba bread."

"I'll make you regret this!" 

"Taketora-san, you can't escape." 

[Name] and the two teams walk into the gym. That boy with the bedhead kept looking at her and she keeps looking away. She held a blush on her cheeks, sticking close to either Sugawara or Nishinoya, trying to busy herself with something so she could ignore the gaze from the bedhead. 

Once inside the gym, [Name] feels that gaze is gone. She lets out a sigh of relief, grabbing the medkit and she stands off to the side. She felt bad that those on the Nekoma team assumed that she's a manager. Although she isn't and she figured that if one of them were to talk to her and ask if she's the manager, she'll just say no and tell them what her position is. 

"We're looking forward to our match today," a very familiar voice said. 

[Name] looks over her shoulder, seeing the black haired with the bedhead that she bumped into the other day. He's greeting Daichi with a shake of their hands and the boy has a kind smile on his features. She blushes, still staring at the two of them and [Name] confirmed that that boy is definitely the captain of the Nekoma team if he's greeting Daichi.

"We're looking forward to it, as well," Daichi said back, kind look on his face. 

"Wow, the ceiling's so high!" Hinata exclaimed. 

"This is normal."

[Name] wished that Ushijima was with her at times like this. He's tall and scary to boys and he could scare them away if they try to approach her. She lets out a defeated sigh, one of the downfalls of having a boyfriend that's going to a different high school. Although one of the pros of having a boyfriend from a different high school is that whenever you two spend time together, it's more memories to cherish. 

"It's been eight years. What's with the hair, Ukai?" A man with short, black hair said, looking at Ukai. 

Ukai slightly scowls at him. "Shut up, Naoi. You haven't changed a bit." 

[Name] looks over at them, raising an eyebrow when she saw the two men give each other big grins. From the side of her eye, [Name] sees an older man walk towards Ukai, Takeda, and Naoi. She figures that it's either the old man or the man that's probably the coach of Nekoma. [Name] isn't really sure which one it is.

"Hey, Keishin," the old man greeted. 

Ukai's eyes widen. He steps forward. "It has been a long time, Nekomata-sensei."

"You look just like your geezer of a grandad," Nekomata said, a smile on his olden featured face. 

"Ah, if it isn't Manager-chan from the other day."

[Name] flinched at the sound of the voice. She looks over her shoulder, seeing the bedhead haired captain and he gives her another charming smile. She has a blush on her cheeks and she fumbles with the shirt she has on. She couldn't believe he would already approach her early. [Name] knows that her heart couldn't take it from being near this man. 

[Name] steps back. "I'm not a manager." 

"Oh? Really?" The boy asked, a smirk tugging on his lips. 

She nods her head slowly. "I'm... uh, a sports medic."

"Sports medic?" The boy repeated. [Name]'s heart beating in her chest as he steps closer to her. "Didn't think Karasuno would have one of those." He steps back, a charming smile making its way on his lips and he tilts his head. "I hope you heal me back to health, Nurse-chan if I'm ever hurt." 

With that, he walks away. [Name] let out a shaky breath, putting a hand on her chest as if to calm her beating heart. She didn't like it how nervous she gets around attractive people that she doesn't know. If she were to know him, she wouldn't be as nervous as she is, but she doubts that she's going to get to know that captain more. 

\---

"Let me be frank," Daichi started, staring at the players of Karasuno. Both Karasuno and Nekoma gotten dressed in their jerseys and [Name] stands with Takeda, Ukai, and Kiyoko." We've all just met. We're awkward and fragmented. But regardless, we're facing our first match. We know nothing about Nekoma's team, nor the kind of walls we'll hit. But when we find a wall, that's our chance to jump over it."

[Name] smiles after hearing Daichi give a speech. She looks over to the Nekoma team, seeing them huddle in a circle with their fists in the middle. She felt a blush spread on her cheeks as the captain glances at her and gives her a wink. She looks to the next guy, seeing the short guy that was talking to Sugawara about Yamamoto.

"We're like the blood in our veins," the captain started. "We must flow without stopping. Keep the oxygen moving and your mind working. Let's do this."

"Yeah."

"Kuroo, can you stop giving those speeches?" Kenma asked, following after the captain. "They're embarrassing."

[Name]'s eyes as she heard the captain's name. She now knows his name and she can stop herself from referring to as the bedhead haired captain or just the captain of Nekoma. She also couldn't believe how tall Kuroo is either, but not as tall as Ushijima. Still intimidating with his height though

"Who cares?" Yamamoto asked, walking past Kenma. "They help set the mood."

Another boy with a shaved head, he's the co-captain, walks by. "They're supposed to be thought-provoking."

Kuroo has a smug look on his face. "And that's that."

The referee blows a whistle and the boys stand outside of the court. [Name] stands with Kiyoko, Ukai, and Takeda. [Name] noticed the men that were helping the boys that are from the Karasuno Neighborhood Association sit in the stands. [Name] looks back over to the Nekoma team, seeing that the team has two liberos and Kuroo glanced over at her, giving her a charming smile.

[Name] looks away immediately, a blush on her cheeks as she looks to the Karasuno side. 

"We now begin the practice match of Nekoma High School versus Karasuno High School."

"Let's play."

[Name] sits down on the bench, having the medkit next to her as she looks to see the lineup from Karasuno. Daichi, Hinata, Tanaka are in the front and [Name] laughs, seeing the intimidating look on Tanaka's face. In the back, there's Nishinoya, Azumane, Tsukishima, and Kageyama. [Name] scowls at Tsukishima, the blonde knowing her secret about her and Ushijima.

"You're not nervous today, right?" Daichi asked Hinata.

Hinata's looking on the Nekoma side. "Right."

[Name] looks to the Nekoma side, seeing the intimidating look on Yamamoto's face too. [Name] doesn't know the names of those who are on the Nekoma side besides Kenma, Kuroo, and Yamamoto. Kenma is the setter and he's in the back along with Kuroo while Yamamoto is up front near the net. Kuroo gives a wink at [Name] and she purses her lips to stop herself from blushing. 

"Wow!" A spiky, brown haired boy and brown eyes said, looking at Hinata. "Short..."

Hinata flinches at the comment before looking at the boy. "D-Don't underestimate me!"

"I'm not underestimating you at all," the boy said, smiling at Hinata. 

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"Shoyo," Kenma called out. [Name] noticed that Kenma is calling Hinata by his first name. "I told you I thought we're a strong team, but it's not me that's strong. It's everyone together."

[Name] smiles at Kenma's words. The referee blows the whistle and Kenma is the first to serve. Azumane receives the ball with ease and [Name] watches the match fondly. When Kageyama goes underneath the ball, preparing to set it, Hinata is already running quickly and Kageyama sets the ball to him. Hinata spikes the ball, spiking it with his eyes closed and [Name] smiles wider. 

The first point goes to Karasuno as Nekoma is stunned about the quick between Hinata and Kageyama. She ponders how the Nekoma team is going to handle the quick between Kageyama and Hinata. 

"Amazing speed. What the..."

"A fast attack from a place like that?" 

"What the heck was that?" Nekomata questioned. "He wasn't watching the toss."

Kenma approaches the net. "That was amazing. I'm shocked."

Hinata lets out a laugh as he rubs the back of his head. [Name] brings one leg to her chest as she lets the other leg dangle. She ponders what Ushijima is doing at the moment. Perhaps she should send him a text message to check up on him or to ask what he's doing. If he doesn't respond within the first hour, then he's definitely at volleyball practice.

"Here goes," Tanaka said. 

The referee blows the whistle and Tanaka serves, hitting the ball to the Nekoma side.

"Fukunaga," the libero called out.

Fukunaga receives the ball and Kenma goes underneath the ball to set it. Kenma sets the ball to Yamamoto, the boy spiking it on Karasuno's side and Nishinoya rolled as he received the ball. [Name] chuckles, seeing his rolling thunder as he didn't shout it this time. Hinata runs too the net while the spiky brown haired boy and Yamamoto go over to where Hinata is, jumping up to block Hinata. Kageyama sets the ball to Azumane.

Azumane spikes the ball and the libero tries to receive it, but the ball goes to the side after making contact with his wrist. The referee blows the whistle and that's the second point that Karasuno has gotten. 

Nekomata lets out a laugh. "That one was inevitable."

Nishinoya switches out with Tsukishima. Nishinoya hitting the blonde on his shoulder roughly. "We're counting on you."

"Good job," Sugawara said, holding out a bottle water for Nishinoya. 

Nishinoya snaps out his daze. "Thanks." He looks over to the Nekoma side. "Their libero is trouble. He's never seen Asahi-san's spike, yet the ball hit his hand." 

[Name] wasn't paying attention to what was happening on the court until she hears the whistle blow and hear Hinata yell out a sorry. She was focusing on Nishinoya as the libero shoves the water bottle back over to Sugawara. Nishinoya goes back onto the court after Sugawara takes the water bottle.

"Nishinoya-kun switches position fast," Takeda said, looking at the match.

[Name] lets out a hum. "Yeah. Liberos specialize in defense, so they can go in and out of the court often." 

"[Last Name] is correct," Sugawara voiced, nodding his head. "In our team, the middle blockers, Hinata and Tsukishima, rotate to rear guard to hit serves, and when one rally is finished, Nishinoya makes the switch."

Tanaka spikes the ball down on Nekoma's side, earning a point. Nishinoya digs for the ball before it could touch the ground and receives the ball perfectly to Kageyama. Kageyama sets the ball to Hinata and the ball touches the ground. Nekomata stands up, calling for a time out and [Name] stands up, grabbing the water bottles for the boys.

[Name] hands a water bottle to Kageyama, smiling at the boy and he blushed when he took it. She hands another bottle to Azumane and the boy mumbles a soft thank you to her and [Name] smiles at him. She bounces over to Nishinoya, wrapping her arms around his neck and the boy is taken back, his hands hovering above her body.

[Name] smiles up at him. "You're doing so good today, Nishi!"

[Name] could see a light blush build on his cheeks. Nishinoya chuckles nervously and [Name] figures she should step away so she does. Nishinoya felt like he could finally breathe, [Name] out of his personal bubble before things could escalate on his part and have her notice what she does to him. 

[Name] looks over at Azumane too. "Asashi-san, you're doing good too."

"Thanks [Last Name]," Azumane chuckled. 

The referee blows the whistle and the boys make their way back to the court. [Name] sits back down on the bench and she looks over at the scoreboard, Karasuno has 10 points and Nekoma has 7 points. [Name] watches as the boys get ready and she glances over at Nekoma, that damn captain catches her gaze again. She looks away.

"Amazing. We're doing well," Takeda said. 

"I'm getting the creeps," Ukai confessed. "Like we're being watched, and analyzed..."

[Name]'s eyes widen, watching as the spiky, brown haired boy is slowly starting to get used to the quick from Hinata and Kageyama. Each time he's trying to block Hinata, his fingers are getting closer and closer to touching the ball. [Name] narrows her eyes slightly, seeing that #7 is following Hinata and #7 has the advantage because of his height. 

[Name] wonders why Kuroo hasn't gotten into the match and she wonders if Kuroo is their trump card. She hasn't seen him play and he's the captain of the team too. Why hasn't he gotten into the match yet? Are they trying to hide something? Or is [Name] unable to take her eyes off an attractive face that she doesn't know? 

Kageyama sets to Hinata again and #7 jumps up, spreading his hand out to block the spike, but the ball just touches his fingers. The libero was able to receive the ball perfectly after #7 grazed the ball with his fingers. Kenma goes underneath the ball, watching with his eyes and [Name]'s eyes widen, watching Kenma do a setter dump. 

"Damn... That was a two-attack," Takeda said. 

[Name] looks at Kenma. "Smart move there."

"Hey, don't get too overt," Kageyama suggested, standing beside Hinata. "They can detect even the tiniest fault."

Hinata is out of the rotation as Tsukishima goes in and [Name] noticed that Kuroo is in the rotation for Nekoma. Yamamoto goes to spike the ball, but he hits the ball softly and Daichi calls out to the ground. Tanaka digs the ball and Nishinoya covers for Tanaka as Kageyama calls for the right. [Name] raised an eyebrow.

"Huh? Kageyama called for a toss?" Hinata asked. 

"Kageyama. Last," Nishinoya said, tossing the ball to Kageyama.

Kageyama runs up to the net, jumping up and spiking the ball with a straight line. Kuroo and #6 jump to block the ball, but Kageyama did a straight shot and close to the sideline of the court too. [Name] wasn't expecting Kageyama to toss or even do a perfect straight too. 

Kageyama points at Hinata. "Hey, that's called a straight. It goes straight along the sideline. Learn to discriminate with your spikes."

"This guy's so good, it's irritating..." Tanaka growled. 

"Totally," Sugawara voiced. 

[Name] tilts her head. "Perhaps that's Kageyama giving a demonstration. He knows that words won't do justice for explaining to Hinata. Although, most of the time, Hinata's been hitting the spikes with his eyes closed." 

Karasuno is at two points ahead as they're at 18 points total and Nekoma is at 16 points. Kageyama sets the ball to Tsukishima, the blonde jumping up and hitting the ball lightly. Tsukishima scored the point as Yamamoto didn't make it in time to receive the ball. Karasuno hits the serve and Kuroo calls out for Yamamoto to receive the ball. 

Yamamoto receives the ball and Kenma has his eyes on the ball. Kenma looks and Tsukishima is already moving to the right when Kenma sets the ball to the left. [Name] smirked, seeing that Kenma deceived Tsukishima and one of the spikers spikes the ball, earning a point for Nekoma. 

[Name] feels her phone buzz multiple times in her pocket. She raised an eyebrow, thinking she was getting a text message, but she's actually getting a phone call. She takes out her phone, looking down at the caller ID and her eyes widen. It's her father that is calling her and she felt her heart jump in her throat. 

She doesn't want answer the phone, but she knows she'll be in trouble if she didn't. However, she scared of what her father will say to her if she does answer the phone. 

"He doesn't seem like the type to stand out," Takeda said, looking at Kenma. "Even a beginner can sense Kageyama-kun's amazing presence. However Nekoma's setter-kun might be doing amazing things, you can't tell."

"It's because of their stable receiving," Ukai stated. "In developing a diverse of offensive, it's receiving that's important. In developing a diverse offensive, it's receiving that's important. Their setter can utilize his talents because of the receivers. For Karasuno, setter Kageyama unifies our awkward team with his overwhelming talent. In Nekoma, setter Kozume is supported by the entire team's receiving power."

[Name] stands up, looking at Ukai. "Coach, I have an important phone call I have to make." 

"Okay," Ukai said, nodding his head.

[Name] rushes towards the exit in a hurry, a few pair of eyes watching her as she opens her phone and accepts the phone call from her father. Once she is in the halls, she leans against the wall and she puts her phone up to her ear. She lets out a quiet, shaky breath as she waits to hear her father's voice. 

" _[Name], where are you?"_

[Name] closes her eyes. "I"m with the volleyball team. We're having a... practice match with Nekoma." 

" _Well, you're spending the weekend with me."_

With that, [Name]'s father ends the call. [Name]'s eyes are wide, sliding against the floor and she hides her face in her hands. She doesn't want to, but she has no say in the matter. She doesn't want to tell her grandmother the situation with her father because it'll only cause trouble for her grandmother. Her grandmother would have to take her father to court about the spending weekends with him and the custody battle too. 

With a shaky sigh and shaky legs, [Name] stands up and she goes back into the gym. When she looks at the scoreboard, she sees that they're in the second set and that Hinata's quick got shut down. [Name] walks over to the bench, sitting away from Kiyoko, Ukai, and Takeda as she pulls both her legs to her chest. She couldn't calm her nerves down. 

Tsukishima looks at [Name], seeing the sad and pale look on her features. He then looks Ukai. 

Ukai noticed Tsukishima's staring. "You're wondering why I don't switch HInata out, aren't you?" 

"Not really," Tsukishima said, looking away quickly.

"If this were an official tournament, I might," Ukai said, watching the match. "But this is my chance to find a solution. But if Hinata starts to lose his will to fight, it might be better to let him sit one out."

[Name] watches as Hinata runs to where #7 is until he changes his course of direction. Kageyama sets the ball to Hinata and Hinata spikes the ball, but unfortunately, #7 was able to shut down Hinata's spike. [Name] understands that Hinata is trying to shake off the blocker, but that #7 is getting used to the attacks. 

"It didn't work," Takeda said, clenching his hands into fists. 

[Name] looks at Hinata, seeing how hard and heavy the boy is panting. She can't see his features, but she hopes that Hinata isn't losing hope. She's glad that this is only a practice match so he won't completely lose hope about being shut down. This is an obstacle that Hinata can overcome, but the fact that he's smiling is something [Name] wasn't expecting. 

"Hey," Kageyama called out, stepping towards the orange haired boy. 

"Something's different," Hinata said. "Different from the time when I couldn't see the 'other side' because of blockers. I was at a complete loss for what to do. But now it's different. I can tell they're matching me by the skin of their teeth. I used to be afraid of blocks. I hated them. But when that guy's in front of me, I feel excitement. With your toss, and with some kind of strategy, I'm sure we can break through this wall." Hinata looks to Kageyama. "One more time... Send me a toss."

"That goes without saying," Kageyama said. 

[Name] guess that they shouldn't worry about Hinata. He knows that they need a strategy and that he feels excited when to see that guy try to block him. She's glad that Hinata didn't lose his hope about playing and that quick attack. [Name] figures that they should switch up their attacks. 

Karasuno has 5 points while Nekoma is 7 points. Kageyama sets the ball to Hinata and [Name]'s eyes widen. She sees that Hinata has his eyes open for the first time. She watches as Hinata misses the spike and he lands on his butt, the ball bouncing and [Name] along with those in the gym were shocked to either see Hinata miss the spike or Hinata trying to spike the ball with his eyes open.

"That toss, did Hinata just...." Sugawara trailed off.

"He saw it," Yamaguchi stated. 

"He trusted Kageyama with the ball all this time!" Sugawara yelled. "All he ever did was give it a full swing..."

Ukai stumbles to stand. "T-Time!"

The referee calls for a time out. The boys were walking and [Name] kept her eyes on Hinata. She didn't think that Hinata was putting all his trust into Kageyama giving him the spike. The boys surrounded the bench, all of them looking at Hinata and Kageyama until they looked at the coach.

"It's not that I didn't trust your toss, um..." Hinata trailed off, moving his arms frantically until he grabs his chin. "I wonder."

Kageyama raised an eyebrow. "What are you panicking about?"

"Kageyama," Ukai called out. Kageyama turns his attention to the coach. "Give Hinata a softer toss than usual. Not the usual direct delivery."

"An indirect delivery?" Kageyama questioned. 

Hinata looks around Kageyama. "In..."

"Instead of the usual fast toss on a straight trajectory, it's a slightly floating kind of toss," Ukai explained. [Name] sees that Kageyama is looking at HInata. "I realize it might be hard to suddenly change tack, but..."

Kageyama looks back at Ukai. "I'll do it."

The referee blows the whistle and the boys go back to the court. [Name] sends a quick message to Ushijima, asking if she could possibly spend the weekend at his dorm. She hopes that he says yes and if he doesn't, then [Name] will either go to Nishinoya's place or possibly Tanaka's. It's not the first time that she's been to the boys' homes either.

"Why are you changing the toss?" Takeda asked. 

"To give Hinata an advantage in the air," Ukai elaborated, he looks to Takeda. "I saw Hinata trying to thwart the block while in mid-air. He probably saw Kageyama's technique to thwart a block, and tried to copy it. He just failed miserably."

During the match, Kageyama tossed to Hinata three times. Within those three times, Hinata hasn't been able to spike the ball at all. Now, Nekoma has 10 points with Karasuno having 5 points. [Name] watches as Ukai stands up and calls for a time out. The boys walk over, surrounding the bench as Ukai begins.

"Hinata, I want you to relax," Ukai suggested.

"Yes!" Hinata yelled. His breathing is heavy as his shoulders shake with each breath. "I'm s-sorry. I've missed so many."

"What are you saying?" Tanaka questioned, pointing to himself. "It's because of you I get to freely spike. It's okay to have matches in which I look cooler than you."

"Although Asahi-san's scoring more," Nishinoya pointed out. 

Tanaka glares at Nishinoya. "Shut up. Anyway, it's fine. Right, Asahi-san?"

"Huh? Oh, right, right," Azumane said, thinking he wouldn't get dragged into the conversation. "We'll make up for lost points."

"Although you might get switched, if you keep blowing it," Tsukishima remarked.

"Tsukishima!" Tanaka hissed. 

Daichi placed a hand on Tsukishima's shoulder, the blonde tensing up. "If you're learning something, then give it all you got. You're alone when you jump, but remember that we're all behind you." Daichi walks over to Azumane. "Besides, the ace says he'll make up for lost points." Daichi smacks Azumane on his back harshly.

"Daichi, don't put pressure on Asahi," Sugawara said, a smile on his lips. "What if he gets hurt?"

"That's right. His heart is made of glass," Nishinoya added.

Azumane looks at [Name]. "[Last Name], help me." 

[Name] shakes her head, her eyes drifting to the side. "Sorry, but I can't help you."

"Please stop ganging up on him," Tanaka advised. 

Although, most of the team noticed [Name]'s mood drop. It's been a while since a few of them have noticed how sad she looks since they're so used to see happy and smiling all the time. They immediately knew something was wrong when they first glanced at her. 

The boys continue when they went to the court. The match continues, Nekoma having 15 points and Karasuno has 12 points, Karasuno slowly closing the gap between them and Nekoma. When Hinata went in, he tried hitting the ball with his eyes open and he was able to push the ball over, but he's still trying to get use to hitting the ball with his eyes open. 

"Again, all he can do is hit returns," Takeda said, letting out a sigh. He looks to Ukai. "What can we do to help him improve?"

Ukai closes his eyes. "It's only natural he can't do a play he's never done before. But everything you learn, you learn by doing. Remember Karasuno's Little Giant?"

"The ace Hinata-kun idolizes?" Takeda asked. 

"He lived up to his name. He was only 170 cm tall," Ukai explained, his eyes focused on the match. "In the beginning, he was constantly blocked. But in the latter half of his second year, he was peerless when it came to battling mid-air. He couldn't overcome the blockers' height, so he aimed at spaces in between them. He'd make the ball touch the blockers' fingertips on purpose, and make it ricochet. That's how he conceived his own style of battle as a short player. I'm just repeating the story my grandad told me."

"Former Coach Ukai?" Takeda questioned. 

"Yeah. I remember everything my granddad told me really well," Ukai said, looking up slightly. "Because people don't have wings... We look for ways to fly."

[Name] looks at Hinata, watching his hand go to hit the spike and her eyes widen, watching as he twist his hand a little and aim the spike away from #7's hands. The ball spins, rotating towards the side and the libero on Nekoma tries to save it, but he doesn't make it in time. [Name] wasn't expecting that and the ball was hit out from the court. 

Takeda stands up. "Shucks, that was out."

"That was awesome," #7 breathed, looking to Hinata. "That was awesome, Shoyo."

Hinata breathes heavily, looking up. "One more."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i like kuroo too much  
> plus him and hawks share the same voice actor


	6. Rival

Hinata, Tanaka, Daichi are up at the net, three blockers for Yamamoto. The three blockers were able to shut down Yamamoto's spike and [Name] simply watches. She chuckles when Tanaka screams out in victory of having to block Yamamoto's spike. Although, Nekoma was able to dig the ball before it could touch their side.

Kenma runs over to the net, his eyes focused on the ball as Yamamoto calls out for another toss. Hinata, Tanaka, and Daichi jump up, hoping to block Yamamoto's spike and the man is able to break through the block. Yamamoto is able to score for Nekoma after claiming that he's still the ace for the team. 

"They could definitely be long-lost brothers," [Name] mumbled, talking to herself. 

"Hinata-kun and Kageyama-kun's quick sets haven't been syncing..." Takeda said, trailing off.

"That's because they're trying to normal quick sets, instead of the freak quick sets where Kageyama matches Hinata perfectly," Ukai said, his eyes focused on the duo. "But Hinata needs to develop his skills. His body has to learn, and the only way is through repetition." Ukai smirks. "He'll have to keep training, but once he has a unique set of skills that duo will cease being an oni and his iron club."

"You're still straining," Kageyama said, pointing at Hinata as the boy wipes the sweat off his face. "Your timing's slower than usual."

[Name] looks over at the scoreboard, seeing that Karasuno has 13 points in total and Nekoma has 17 points in total. She's glad to see that Karasuno isn't being completely crushed by Nekoma because she doesn't like seeing the boys sadden by defeat. It's not a good sight that [Name] wants to see.

Kenma hits the ball and the ball is coming straight towards Hinata. [Name]'s eyes widen and she stands up, seeing the ball hit Hinata in his face. The boy falls as Tanaka calls for someone to cover the ball while [Name] goes to the side line with concerned eyes. 

"Hinata! Are you okay?" [Name] asked. 

Hinata sits forward, a smile on his lips and flashing a thumbs up when Nishinoya covers the ball perfectly and tosses it to Tanaka. [Name] let out a sigh of relief, walking back over to the bench as Tanaka jumps up to spike the ball with two blockers. Tanaka spikes the ball and the ball bounces off the blocker's hand, going to the side and scoring a point. 

Tanaka and Nishinoya get down on one knee, throwing their fists up and down. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

Daichi approaches Hinata. "Hinata. Like Kageyama says, don't strain too much. Maintain a broad perspective."

"Y-Yes."

The whistle blows and Karasuno serves the ball. Fukunaga receives the ball, Kenma's eyes focused on the ball as the vice-captain runs towards the net and he's in the jumping motion. [Name] noticed #7 running behind Kenma and Kenma sets the ball to #7. Hinata jumps quickly, Inouka spiking the ball and the ball bounced off of Hinata's hand. 

"Nice one touch," Nishinoya praised. 

"Chance ball," Daichi called out.

Hinata's feet touches the ground and he's already in a full sprint towards the other end of the net. Although, Inouka reacts fast and he's trying to catch up with Hinata. Kageyama spikes the ball to Hinata and he jumps up, hitting the ball on Nekoma's side and Inouka's hand barely missing the ball. Yaku tries to dig the ball, but it's too late as the ball touches the ground. 

"He got it through," Sugawara said, a smile on his lips. 

"It landed in," Yamaguchi commented, also a smile on his lips. 

"All right," Hinata yelled.

[Name] smiles, seeing Hinata and Inouka look at each other. She could see the rivalry between the two players especially when both of them yell out 'one more' while going back to their positions. The whistle blows and Yamamoto was able to score a point for Nekoma. [Name] looks back at the scoreboard, Karasuno at 15 points and Nekoma at 18 points while in the second set. 

"We can't let them reach 20 points before we do," Sugawara stated.

"Inouka, serve," the vice captain, Kai, called out, holding the ball in his hands. 

"Yes."

[Name]'s eyes widen, seeing the Captain, Kuroo look down at Hinata. She hopes that Hinata can get passed Kuroo. Kuroo is a lot taller than Hinata and she can only hope that Kuroo isn't as troublesome for Hinata like Inuoka is. [Name] blushed, Kuroo glancing over at [Name] and a smirk grows on his lips when he looks to Hinata.

Kuroo placed his hands on his hips. "Inuoka's 20 cm taller than you, and yet you've played an even match. That's amazing, shrimpy." 

"You can call me a shrimp, but you're the real shrimp," Hinata remarked, Kuroo's smirk widening. 

[Name] snorts, Hinata's comeback being funny and she covers her mouth. Kuroo looks over at her and she blushed more, looking away when Kageyama grabs Hinata by the back of his shirt. She calms down when she ponders what could Kageyama possibly want to tell Hinata about. 

"What are you doing?" Hinata asked. 

The two boys start whispering to each other and she smiles. She looks back over at Kuroo, seeing the boy at the net with his hands up as he's ready to jump to block a spike. [Name] wasn't really a spiker or a blocker when she played volleyball in her middle school. She was a libero and she was pretty good.

"Inuoka, nice serve."

Inuoka hits the serve, Nishinoya receives it and Hinata runs over to the net. Kageyama and Hinata do their quick, none of the Nekoma blockers being able to react in time to the fast spike. [Name] smirked wickedly, seeing the shocked look on Kuroo's face and she chuckles, glad that he had that kind of reaction to the quick.

"That always feels so good," Hinata said, looking at his hand with a bashful look. 

"I think that was a good decision," Ukai confessed, his eyes looking at the duo.

"What?" 

"Sorry, sorry. I didn't react at all," Kuroo commented, a smile on his face.

"Kuroo-san, don't worry."

"I think the freak quick set is more effective against that third year middle blocker," Ukai said, looking over at Kuroo. "It's because the normal quick set would be an easy target for that skilled middle blocker."

Hinata has his hand high. "Okay, it's my serve next."

"Get it over the net, okay?" Kageyama asked, looking at Hinata with a scowl. 

"I know that."

Hinata goes over and [Name] hopes that Hinata can serve the ball over the net. She places her hands in her lap, intertwining her fingers together as she sees the ball in Hinata's hands. The whistle blows and Hinata hits the serve, Yaku being able to receive it without a problem, but that's not concerning. [Name]'s eyes widen as there's three players coming up for the spike. 

"Wow, they got jumbled..." Takeda said.

[Name] thought that Yamamoto was going to spike the ball, but Kenma tosses the ball towards the back. The three blockers, Tsukishima, Azumane, and Daichi already landing on their feet Fukunaga spikes the ball straight at Hinata's face. [Name] lets out a gasp, seeing Hinata fall to the ground as the ball goes back onto Nekoma's side.

"Chance ball," Kuroo called out.

"Are you alright, Hinata?!" [Name] yelled.

Hinata nods his head and Kuroo tosses the ball up, him and two more players running towards the next. Tsukishima and Daichi are watching the ball as Azumane is watching the incoming spikers. Kuroo jumps up and Kenma tosses the ball to him, Kuroo landing the spike on Karasuno's side and scoring a point.

"That was quite a solid quick," Ukai commented, [Name]'s eyes go over to Kuroo. "Maybe it's because he's keeping a close eye on our unpredictable Hinata."

[Name] sees that Nekoma now has 19 points, a single point away from 20 and she bites her lip. It's Yamamoto's turn to serve and the whistle blows. Yamamoto hits the serve, Tanaka receives it and he calls for a cover. Azumane calls for the toss and Nishinoya passes the ball over to him. Azumane spikes the ball onto Nekoma's side and Yaku receives it without a problem. 

Kuroo runs up to the net and he bends his knees, Azumane, Daichi, and Tsukishima jumping already and Kuroo didn't even jump. Kenma tosses the ball over to Kuroo who jumps and spikes the ball, landing a point. [Name] and Kuroo look at each other, the boy sending her a wink and [Name] for once decides not to look away despite the blush growing on her cheeks. Kuroo smirks.

"What was that?" Takeda asked, looking to the coach. 

"One guy changes the timing," Ukai explained, his eyes focused on Kuroo. "He fakes doing a quick, then spikes after messing up the blockers' timing. You don't see it used much these days. But he took the initiative immediately after that perfect A quick. That was impressive."

Kuroo and Kenma slap hands, as Kuroo is getting praised by his teammates. [Name] lets out a sigh, Nekoma finally reaching the 20 points before Karasuno. Nekoma simply needs 5 more points to win the second set and [Name] lets out a sigh, knowing that Karasuno will have to do impressive plays to catch up to 20 points quickly.

"We're in trouble," Ukai confessed, gripping his knees. "And I've already used up the two timeouts."

[Name] hears someone laughing and she looks over to see the coach of Nekoma laughing with his arms crossed. He's smirking at Ukai and [Name] chuckles, finding it funny the relationship that Ukai and the coach of Nekoma.

"I don't know about that, but ever since their #1 took the vanguard position, I can really tell that their team has an experienced offense," Takeda confessed.

[Name] looks over, seeing Kageyama, Nishinoya, and Tanaka are in the back with Daichi, Tsukishima, and Azumane are in the front. 

"Half of our starting players are first-years," Ukai said, [Name] looks at Ukai. "They've just started playing together. If our team is level 1, their team is level 10 or 20."

Takeda nods his head. "They're a fully mature cat, and we're a newborn raven."

Yamamoto hits the serve.

"Yeah, something like that," Ukai voiced, he smiles. "In terms of defense and offense, we're no match for them." Takeda looks at Ukai with questioning eyes. "At least for now. In which case..." Ukai stands up as Nishinoya receives Yamamoto's serve. "We have no choice, but to fight. Pound them with your power and speed!"

Tanaka looks over, a scary look on his face. "In other words, force them to surrender?"

"That's kind of villainous," Hinata commented. 

Ukai lets out a laugh. "Villainous, huh? That's fine." He also has a scary look on his face. "Ravens are sort of villainous, aren't they?"

"Ukai-kun, you look really scary!" Takeda confessed. 

Ukai throws his hand out. "We'll make up for our lousy quicks and receives with sheer brute force. You guys are rough around the edges and awkward, so use that as your weapon! Wield your weapons with all your might." Kageyama tosses the ball to Azumane and he spikes it. "Attack, attack, and keep on attacking!"

The whistle blows after Tsukishima successfully blocked Inuoka's block and Karasuno scored a point by that. [Name] smiled, seeing that Karasuno scored four points by their attacks and they finally have 20 points in total and Nekoma now has 22 points in total. She hopes that Karasuno will win the second set. 

The referee blows the whistle and the boys circle around Ukai. [Name] and Kiyoko grab the water bottles, handing them to the boys who want to drink water as Nekoma called a timeout. [Name] looks over at Nekoma's side, seeing the boys and she saw the coach smiled. The timeout is over and the boys go back to their sides.

The whistle blows, Karasuno being able to score two points and Nekoma scored a single point. Nekoma only needs 2 more points to win the set while Karasuno is a single point away from being matched with Nekoma. This is gonna be a critical time for both Karasuno and Nekoma since both the teams want to win and also block as many points from the other team.

"D-D-Do your best," Takeda said.

The ball is in Nekoma's favor.

"Calm down," Tanaka said, his hands hovering near the net with Hinata next to him. "We'll stop this one."

Kenma has the ball falling towards him and Hinata along with Tanaka jump to block the spike. But Kenma did a setter dump and Nishinoya wasn't able to save the ball in time. Nekoma is now at 24 points and [Name] couldn't believe Kenma would do a setter dump like that. It was smart for sure because Hinata and Tanaka expected a spike to be coming.

"Just when we thought we were out of danger, it's Nekoma's match point," Takeda said, holding his head. Takeda stands up, startling [Name] and she looks at him. "Don't worry. Everyone is still fired up."

Tanaka runs towards the net. "Alright! We'll even the score."

Hinata also runs towards the net too, Hinata already in the jump motion and Kageyama tosses the ball to Daichi. Daichi spikes the ball, landing a point for Karasuno and [Name] let out a sigh. Azumane is in front of the net with Hinata and Daichi in between the two of them. Tanaka is the one serving the ball and the whistle blows.

Tanaka serves the ball and the ball is being tossed around by both teams. [Name] can hear the shoes squeaking.

"One more point and it's deuce," Kiyoko stated, her eyes focused on the match.

"Yes. If we can reach a deuce, we'll have a chance to turn the tables on them," Takeda said. 

[Name] watches the ball. "This is the moment that determines it all."

Tanaka receives the ball and Hinata runs to the net with his eyes focused on the ball. Hinata jumps up, but the ball isn't tossed to him. The ball is tossed to Azumane and he spikes the ball. The ball is perfectly received by Yaku and [Name]'s eyes widen, seeing the ball is Karasuno's chance ball. 

"It's coming back. It's our chance ball."

"Azumane, direct spike!" Ukai yelled.

Azumane jumps up, his hand back as his eyes are focused on the ball with one blocker in front of him.

"Slam it, Asashi!" Daichi yelled.

"Go, Asashi-san!" [Name] yelled, standing up.

Azumane spikes the ball, but Nekoma saved the ball once more. Luckily, the ball goes back onto Karasuno's side. [Name] smiled, watching the ball as Tanaka calls out the chance ball and tosses it up. Hinata runs towards the net quickly, Hinata jumps up and Kageyama tosses the ball to him, two blockers in front of Hinata. Hinata spikes the ball, missing the blockers, but Yaku saved the ball before it could hit the ground.

[Name]'s eyes widen when the ball hits the net and Kai was able to save the ball before it hit the floor. The ball falls towards the ground and a gasp escapes [Name]'s lips when Kenma falls towards the ground and hits the ball over the net. Nishinoya and Hinata run after the ball, Nishinoya sliding against the ball and the ball touches the ground.

Nekoma wins the second set.

The whistle blows, the Nekoma team screaming in joy after winning. [Name] stands still, her eyes going over to the boys as she could see them realize the defeat as it swims in their eyes. Takeda lets out a big exhale, falling into his seat back on the bench while Ukai is standing.

"We didn't make many mistakes," Ukai stated, his eyes focused on Karasuno. "Our best weapons were working as they should. Yet, we still couldn't win." Ukai looks over at the Nekoma team. "They're a real team, not a group of individuals. They totally defeated us."

"One more!" Hinata called out, looking at the Nekoma team. Karasuno looking at Hinata with wide eyes and Nekoma doing the same. "One more. Let's do it."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Nekomata said, a smile on his face. Hinata smiles. "That's what a practice match is for, so we can do it 'once more.'"

[Name] smiles, seeing the boys are excited once more and she sits down. [Name] sits back, relaxing as Karasuno and Nekoma continued to play against each other until the sun is beginning to set. Nekoma and Karasuno played a total of 6 sets, with Nekoma winning each set and Karasuno being close to winning. 

"We've been defeated fair and square," Ukai stated, a smile on his lips.

[Name] laughed. "Everyone's exhausted though."

Most of the Nekoma players are on the floor except for Kuroo who's has his hands on his knees. For Karasuno, most of them are on the floor except for Daichi and Azumane. [Name] chuckled, hearing Hinata call out for another 'once more' and Nekomata looks at Hinata with a somewhat scared look and pointing at the first year.

"Hey! You've been moving around like crazy," Nekomata commented. "Is your stamina limitless?"

Ukai picks up Hinata by the back of his shirt. "Hey now, we can't. We have to catch the bullet train."

"Huddle," Kuroo and Daichi called out.

[Name] blushed, standing with Ukai, Takeda, and Kiyoko as the players from Nekoma surround them. [Name] looks at Kuroo, not backing down from looking away from his as he keeps his eyes focused on [Name]. Since the Nekoma players are surrounding them, Karasuno is surrounding Nekomata and Naoi.

"Your receives were particularly amazing," Ukai complimented, looking at the players with his hands on his hips. "I learned a lot watching you guys. You thoroughly defeated us." 

Once Ukai was done talking to the Nekoma team, [Name] looks over at her boys to see them staring at Nekoma. [Name] smiles, hoping that Karasuno continues to have practice matches with Nekoma and so they could also meet at nationals too. Although, the only way that Karasuno can go to Nationals is to defeat Ushijima Wakatoshi.

"We finally have a good rival again," Nekomata stated, he then looks back at Karasuno. "Let's meet again at nationals. In front of a huge audience, in an arena swirling with emotions, in that shining, glistening, enormous gymnasium. The Battle at the Garbage Dump."

"Yes."

"All right. Let's start cleaning up," Ukai announced. 

"Yeah."

"Hey," Yamamoto called out, confronting Tanaka in the closet. 

"Huh?" Tanaka voiced, turning around. Tanaka puts his hands up, as if he's going to fight with a scary expression on his face. "What's up? Still wanna fight? City boy. Come on."

"Um... well... your... L-Lady.... ma... What's your managers' name?" Yamamoto asked, sweating nervously.

Tanaka approaches Yamamoto, grabbing the boy by his jersey. "You plan on bothering our precious manager and medic? I'm gonna rub your fuzzy head so hard..."

"No. I do not have the courage to speak to them."

[Name] lets out a yawn, seeing the captain of Nekoma and a few of his teammates, start to mop the floors. [Name] puts away her first aid kit and she looks around for Hinata, wanting to make sure the boy is okay. He did get hit in the head a few times during the match, but none of the hits were powerful like Azumane's spike to the face.

She lets out a sneeze. She pouts her lips, seeing Hinata and she walks over to him as the Karasuno and Nekoma team are mingling with each other. [Name] calls out to the boy, the boy turning around and [Name] stands in front of him with a smile on her lips.

"Hinata, I just wanted to check up on you," [Name] said, smiling at the boy. He blushed lightly when [Name] placed her hands on the side of his face. She feels around his forehead, hoping nothing is scattered. "You need to be more careful when you take a spike to the face, Hinata. Don't want nothing happening to your head."

"[Last Name]-senpai, are you doing better?" Hinata asked, [Name]'s hands pulling away from his face and she blinks at him in confusion. "You were looking pretty sad earlier."

[Name]'s eyes widen and she gives him a reassuring smile. "Oh! I'm was just thinking about the match, that's all!"

Hinata was about to open his mouth.

"You were amazing, Shoyo," Inuoka said, appearing in front of the two. "You're like... Zoom! Bam! Oh, I'm Inuoka, a first-year."

"You, too. You're big, but you're like.... Wham! Kaboom!" Hinata exclaimed.

"I especially like how you 'argh'!" Inuoka said, him and Hinata jumping up and down.

[Name] looks at them, not understanding what they're really saying, but they have the same energetic and high energy. Especially when the both of them are jumping up and down. [Name] shakes her head, the smile growing on her lips as she continues to watch Hinata and Inuoka.

"They don't sound like they're in high school," a familiar voice made [Name] jump. She looks over her shoulder, seeing Kuroo talk to Tsukishima. "But you on the other hand, maybe you should loosen up more, like a real high schooler."

Tsukishima closes his eyes, walking away. "I'm not good at that sort of thing." 

Kuroo smiles, he looks over at [Name]. "Ah, youth." He walks over to [Name] and he stands in front of her. "I'm Tetsurou Kuroo."

[Name] blushed, looking down. "[Name] [Last Name]. It's nice to meet you, Kuroo-senpai."

"We've met before, Nurse-chan," Kuroo laughed, causing [Name] to blush more. "Just not officially, so it's nice to meet you, [Last Name]-chan." [Name] blushed, her whole face and neck burning as she looks down. "Oh? Do you prefer Nurse-chan or [Last Name]-chan?"

"E-Either one is fine, Kuroo-senpai," [Name] mumbled, using her sweaterpaws to cover her face. Kuroo lets out a laugh and [Name] cleared her throat. "You guys were good."

"Thanks. Karasuno ain't that bad," Kuroo confessed, nodding his head. He looks at [Name], smiling at her when she meets his gaze. "I hope we can get closer, [Last Name]-chan."

With that, Kuroo goes back to his duties and [Name]'s heart is beating in her chest rapidly. The only thing that's running in her mind is, ' _He's so hot! WAIT! I HAVE A BOYFRIEND! I HAVE A BOYFRIEND!'_

\---

The two teams stand in front of each other. [Name]'s glad to see most of the boys in Karasuno make friends with the boys from Nekomata. [Name] couldn't help, but avoid looking at Kuroo after that he hopes they get close. [Name] didn't want to tell Kuroo that she has a boyfriend because if he did, then there's a chance that it might get out. 

"'Til we meet again, my friend," Tanaka and Yamamoto cried, holding their opposite hands.

"What's with them?" Kenma asked, staring at the two.

"Dunno. It's quite unusual," Kuroo said. 

[Name] watched as Daichi approaches Kuroo, the two captains standing in front of each other and [Name] heard a laugh escape Kuroo's lips. The two captains have _very_ friendly smiles on their faces as they clasp hands, but they don't shake their hands. Although, [Name] noticed that they're both squeezing the hell out of their hands.

"We won't lose the next time," Daichi said.

"We won't lose the next time, either," Kuroo said.

"Terrifying! They're terrifying!" Sugawara and Yaku exclaimed, staring at their captains. 

[Name] walks over, placing her hand on Daichi's shoulder. "Daichi-san, Kuroo-senpai, you're going to hurt each other." 

Daichi and Kuroo continue to keep their hands in a tight grip, ignoring [Name]'s advice. She stands next to Daichi, avoiding Kuroo's look and she grabs onto Daichi's arm, holding the fabric on the back of his arm as she looks over her shoulder to see Ukai and Naoi gripping their hands tightly like Daichi and Kuroo were doing.

"The next time around, things won't go your way like they did today," Ukai said, a scary expression on his face.

Naoi also has a scary expression on his face. "Fine. Otherwise, it wouldn't be good practice."

"And them, too!" Sugawara exclaimed.

"They're so immature," Yaku added.

Kuroo and Daichi chuckle, [Name] let out a sigh and she shook her head. She couldn't believe these two together are immature and she shakes her head. She tugs on Daichi's arm, a pout forming on her lips as she looks at Daichi and he glances at her, a blush growing on his cheeks at [Name]'s cute expression.

"Daichi-san, if you and Kuroo-senpai keep this up, we'll miss the bullet train," [Name] stated. 

He smiles at her. "It's fine. I won't be losing this."

[Name] rolls her eyes as Daichi and Kuroo keep their hands like that. [Name] lets go of Daichi and she goes over to Nishinoya, screaming out the boy's name and jumping onto his back, clinging to him like that as she lets out a laugh. The two captains let go, their eyes focused on [Name] as they wish [Name] would jump on them like that from behind. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the long wait!  
> it takes forever when there's a match  
> and i realize that some of the matches in haikyuu are like at least 3-5 episodes long  
> so that's a big oof as i don't really like writing out the matches, but ill do it  
> i also noticed i spelt inuoka's name wrong a few times, ignore it


	7. Formidable Opponents

"Block follow! Get in there!" Ukai shouted, standing on a table. "Don't just stand and watch."

The team is practicing, the players practicing their receives and blocking with two lines. Ukai is standing on a table with Kiyoko handing him volleyballs from the blue basket. [Name] sits on the stage, kicking her legs back and forth as her gaze flickers between Hinata and Nishinoya because the two boys in front of the lines. 

Hinata bows. "I'm sorry."

"'This is my last chance.' Always tell yourself that," Ukai advised, grabbing the next volleyball. He holds it out in front of him, "Give it all you got." He spikes the ball and Hinata dives to receive it, but he's too late. Kiyoko gives the volleyball to Ukai. "If you don't,, the one chance you wasted could cost you the match!"

Ukai spikes the ball and Hinata is able to get the ball up, but Hinata stumbles back and falls on his butt. Yamaguchi steps back before Hinata could crash into him and [Name] smiles.

"Nice, Hinata!"

"Get up quickly," Ukai advised. "One more."

Hinata gets up. "Yes, thank you."

[Name] smiles, continuing to watch the boys practice and they practice until the sun sets and the moon rises. She looked out through the barred windows, seeing the dark sky and she turns her attention back to the boys, scanning those in the room. Most of them are catching their breath, drinking water and wiping the sweat from their faces. 

She removes herself from the stage, standing behind Nishinoya whose sitting on the floor and holding a volleyball magazine. Monthly Volleyball. Tanaka and Sugawara are sitting with him and [Name] stares at the pages in the magazine. She knows that Oikawa and Ushijima are already in the volleyball magazine, they're both good players. 

"You're right," Nishinoya stated, sitting on the floor. "That's amazing. The picture's huge."

"Yeah!" Tanaka voiced.

"What, what?" Azumane questioned. 

[Name] sees that Nishinoya has the magazine on a page featuring Ushijima. She smiles, her boyfriend looking incredibly handsome in the picture and her eyes don't even bother to glance over at what the words are on the page. She's just observing her boyfriend on the page and she wonders if he's still at practice.

"What? What's that?" Hinata asked, him and Kageyama walking over. 

"Look!" Tanaka said, grabbing the magazine from Nishinoya and handing it to Hinata. He takes it, his eyes scanning the words. "'Shiratorizawa's Ushiwaka is among the three most-noticed high schoolers in the whole country."

"Shiratorizawa! That's where Kageyama couldn't get in," Hinata exclaimed. [Name] snorted, covering her mouth.

Kageyama glares at him, "Shut up." Tsukishima and Yamaguchi laugh, their laughter catching Kageyama's attention and he turns to them. "What's so funny, you bastards?"

Hinata looks up, "Who's Ushiwaka?"

"We're not laughing."

"You don't know?" Tanaka questioned, blinking a Hinata in confusion. 

"That's because you're only a fan of the Little Giant," Sugawara stated, smiling kindly at the first year.

"Waka-- Ushiwaka is unmistakably the number-one ace of our prefecture: Ushijima Wakatoshi!" [Name] explained, speaking with a smile. Nishinoya glanced her way and she blushed, avoiding to meet his gaze.

Daichi lets out a hum and stands next to Hinata. "Hmm. He definitely has 'ace' written all over him." 

[Name] and the others turn to Azumane, knowing that he's the ace, but he doesn't radiate that vibe of 'confident ace.' Azumane feels everyone gaze on him and he pales, jumping at the sight of everyone staring at him. "Hey, why are you looking at me?"

Azumane sulks, stepping away from the group and Nishinoya stands up. He pats Azumane's shoulder, [Name] smiling at their friendship and all. She gives Azumane an apologetic smile, but she's sure that Azumane will get more confident in his skills as an ace. 

"Kageyama, you were trying to get into a place with guys like this?" Sugawara asked.

Tanaka leans back more. "And you were going to yell at the super high-school ace, 'Move faster, clumsy oaf!' and stuff, right?"

Kageyama clenches his hands. "I wouldn't say that."

"If we don't defeat him, we can't play against Nekoma," Hinata stated, still gazing at the picture of Ushijma. 

Ukai walks over, "Hey, hey. Shiratorizawa isn't the only formidable opponent."

"Would the others be last year's best four?" [Name] questioned, gazing at Ukai. Tanaka and Sugawara stand up while Nishinoya, Azumane, and Yamaguchi walk over. 

"Yes, but there are other formidable opponents this year," Ukai stated, nodding his head. He takes out a folded piece of paper, gazing at it. "There's Wakutani Minarmi, which has superior defense and coordination. Date Kogyo is also known as the Iron Wall, which says it all. That team has the highest blocking rate in the country." [Name] glanced at Azumane, the boy looking down and she placed a comforting hand on his arm. "If I recall, we lost to Dateko 2-0 in the prefectural tournament last March. I hear there's a second-year named Aone who is particularly dangerous. Daketo is as strong as the other best four teams, but they lost their third-round match against the eventual champions, Shiratorizawa, and only made the best sixteen. That's why they weren't seeded this year. In other words, depending on the match-ups, we might or might not play against them in the first round." Ukai flips to another paper, "And the next one... Oh, yeah. I heard we recently had a practice match against them. The team's top attacker is their setter, and of course he's also a supreme setter."

_'Oikawa,'_ [Name] thought, nodding her head. She doesn't have anything against Oikawa and she has spoken to Iwaizumi before, the two had exchanged phone numbers and texted before. However, they haven't been messaging each other recently and she's curious as to how Iwaizumi is doing.

"Their team's ranks include perhaps the best all-round player in the prefecture," Ukai continued. "That would be Oikawa Tooru at Aoba Johsai."

Hinata flinches, "The Great King!"

"They were in last year's best four," Ukai continued. Tanaka clicked his teeth. "Last, but not least... The defending champions, Shiratorizawa, and their super-ace Ushijima Wakatoshi. That about sums it up. I'll save the details for later." He turns to Daichi and Sugawara, the two boys having blissful expression on their faces. "You guys are thinking something disrespectful about me, aren't you?" Daichi and Sugawara shake their heads and Ukai folds up the papers. "Anyway, those are the top four contenders this year. However, if look up instead of straight ahead, we could lose our footing. There's no team that enters a tournament to lose. They all enter to win. While we frantically train, others will also be frantically training. Weak or strong, they're all aiming to win. Don't forget that." Ukai smirks, "And... don't let them call us 'unflying crows' ever again."

"Yeah!"

The doors open loudly, [Name] looks over to see Takeda the one who opened the doors. She noticed the piece of paper in his hands, seeing sweat glisten on his face and she guessed that he probably ran over to the gym. Whatever reason he came by, it's probably something important if he's in a rush.

"I'm glad you're all still here," Takeda said, panting heavily as he changes his outdoor shoes to indoor. He runs over. "Sorry I'm late. The meeting wet long. However..." He holds out a piece of paper, [Name]'s eyes widen as it's the match-ups for the Inter-High preliminaries. "Here it is. The match-ups for the Inter-High preliminaries."

Daichi looks at the paper, [Name] standing next to him and clinging to his arm. She's curious as who Karasuno will be going against for their first match and it's Tokonami. She can't think of any really good players on that team, but that's not the main concern. The main concern is that if they win the first round, in the second round they'll be going against Dateko and she knows Dateko will win their first match.

"If we win the first round, we might play against Dateko, assuming they also win," Nishinoya stated, speaking lowly.

"But that's not all..." Tsukishima voiced, an eyebrow raised. "Aoba Johsai is one of the seeds in our block."

"For real?" Tanaka asked, his eyes scanning the paper.

"Hey," Ukai called out, catching the team's attention. "Don't forget what I just said. If all you do is look up..."

"We know," Daichi stated, his eyes go back to the paper. He looks up, the whole team gazing at Ukai. "The first round... I promise we'll win it."

***

"Nishi, do you want to come over after school?" [Name] questioned, walking beside him. The two of them are heading over to Azumane's classroom. "My grandma won't be home since she' working and I can help you with the homework. I can also ask Ryuu, too."

"What about Ushijima?" Nishinoya asked, glancing at her. 

[Name] shrugged her shoulders. "I think he has to study for some quizzes, but he's has to practice." 

"Sure!" Nishinoya voiced, nodding his head.

The two second-years stand in front of the second door that lead to Azumane's class. [Name] stands next to Nishinoya as he opens the door and loudly exclaimed Azumane's name, causing those inside to look over at him and [Name]. She sees Azumane sitting at his desk, he sits in the back, with a piece of paper on his desk and she noticed he had flinched from Nishinoya's loud voice.

"Asashi-san," Nishinoya said, he points in the direction of the gym. "Go! Club!" 

"What's going on?"

"Is he training a dog?"

"Are you ready Asahi-san?" [Name] asked. 

Azumane nods his head, gathering his stuff and he leaves the classroom. Nishinoya walks ahead and Azumane walks next to [Name], the third year rubbing the back of his head as Nishinoya sort of stomps instead of walking calmly. 

"Don't worry about me," Azumane said, chuckling nervously. "I'm not running away. I know everyone's behind me." Azumane's words caused Nishinoya to stop walking, he turns around to look at Azumane and [Name] smiles at the determined expression on Azumane's face. "This time, I'll stick out my chest, and declare, 'I'm the ace of Karasuno!'"

[Name] smiles, patting Azumane's shoulder. "That's the attitude of an ace."

Azumane smiles at [Name]'s words, the three of them heading in the direction of the gym. 

\---

[Name] sits at the stage, Ukai standing in front of her as he watches the others practice. Kageyama is practicing his sets with the others spiking his sets. She's not sure where Kiyoko is exactly, but [Name] has to make sure she has enough supplies like tape, gauze, and wooden sticks in case someone gets injured during a game.

"Azumane," Ukai called out. Azumane had finished spiking Kageyama's set. Azumane approaches Ukai. "Are you good at back attacks?" Ukai looks around the third year to the others, "Hey. I need you guys here."

Ukai takes out a whiteboard from the closet, drawing on it with the volleyball court and positions of the team with the letter of player positions and circling them. The team sits on the floor, gazing at the whiteboard and Ukai holds the dry-erase marker in his hand as he faces the team. He explains the idea of back attacks to the team and different attack plans.

"That's the idea..." Ukai finished.

"We have to find the right height for spiking," Kageyama confessed. 

"It looks hard," Hinata voiced.

Azumane stands up, "Let's do it. Coach us."

\---

"Good job," Daichi announced. 

"Yes!"

[Name] lets out a yawn, covering her mouth as she does so. The others keep practicing, a few volleyballs lingering on the other side of the court, the one closer to the stage that she's sitting on. She has to wait for practice to be over so Nishinoya and Tanaka could come over to her house and she'll help them with their homework and cook dinner for them if they want to stay. 

Sugawara tosses the ball to Tanaka, Tanaka hits the ball up and back towards Sugawara. Sugawara sets the ball as Hinata jumps up and spikes it to the other side of the court. [Name] smiles, glad to see Hinata and Sugawara's progression getting better with their quicks. 

"Nice, Hinata," Sugawara praised. "Awesome, awesome."

"Thanks!" Hinata said, smiling widely at Sugawara. "That toss was really good."

Sugawara flashes Hinata a thumbs up while Kageyama sets the ball to Azumane. Azumane spikes the ball, the ball landing within the white lines on the court and as soon as Azumane's feet touch the ground, Kageayama is close to him.

"Azumane-san, how was that toss?" Kageyama questioned. "Was it too high? Too low?" How was it?"

Azumane is tensed, unused to Kageyama's hounding and straightforwardness. "Oh, um... yeah, it was fine.?"

Kageyama gets closer to him. "If you have a criticism, no matter how minor, tell me everything. I'll fix it."

"I see..." Azumane looks to the side, racking his brain. "Then... maybe a little higher?" Kageyama gets closer. "And a little further away from the net."

Kageyama nods his head. "Understood. Ten more spikes, please."

"Is that not enough? Twenty more spikes?" Kageyama questioned.

"No, that's not what I meant..." Azumane trails off. 

"Hey, stragglers," Daichi called out, stepping forward. "Let's wrap it up."

"Right!"

"[Last Name]," Kiyoko called out, standing at the doors. 

[Name] perks up, her eyes landing on the third year. She pushes herself off the stage, jogging over to her and she watches Kiyoko change her indoor shoes to outdoor shoes. [Name] holds her hands behind her back, wondering why Kiyko wants to speak to her and [Name] blushed when Kiyoko smiles at her softly.

"I'm working on something for the team," she started. "Would you like to help me?" 

"Sure!" [Name] answered, nodding her head. "Right now?" Kiyoko nods her head and [Name] looks at the stage. "I'll put away the first-aid kit and I'll join you. I have to tell Nishi and Ryuu to cancel coming over for tonight, too."

"Okay," Kiyoko responded.

[Name] runs over to the first-aid kit on the stage, putting it away quickly as Sugawara is informing Kiyoko that Daichi is buying them pork buns tonight, but she canceled because she's busy. Once [Name] is finished, her and Kiyoko walk together and leaving the gym, too. She texts Ushijima that she's working on a project with Kiyko so she might not be home at the usual time. 

The something that Kiyoko is working on is actually a banner she found while cleaning and [Name] had gotten excited working on it with Kiyoko. She didn't think that Kiyoko was working on the banner all this time for them and figured that that's really considerate for the team of her doing that. [Name]'s glad to be helping Kiyoko work on the banner over the course of the days coming until the Inter-High preliminaries start. 

***

"Go home and go to sleep early tonight," Ukai advised. 

He, Takeda, Kiyoko, and [Name] stand in front of the team after the gym is cleaned up. [Name] holds a smile on her face, excitement building inside of her at the thought of what the team's reaction is going to be when her and Kiyoko reveal the banner to them. Tomorrow is the start of the Inter-High preliminaries and the team has been practicing hard each day as the days grew nearer towards the first match. 

"Yeah!"

"Okay, that'll do it," Daichi started.

Takeda holds out his hand, "Just a second. One more thing, Shimizu-san, [Last Name]-san?"

The team turns to [Name] and Kiyoko. 

"I'm not good at cheering, but..." Kiyoko started.

[Name] grabbed Kiyoko's hand, heading towards the ladder that leads to the second level. "Sensei, if you will?" 

[Name] and Kiyoko stand at the ladder, watching Takeda climb up the ladder. 

"Sensei, we can do the carrying," Kiyoko informed. 

The three of them go up the ladder, grabbing the black material with Kiyoko carrying on end and Takeda on the other end. [Name] holds the middle of it, the three of them working together as the team asks what's going on. The three of them crouch down, looking at each other before they start to reveal the banner.

"One, two..." Takeda started.

[Name], Kiyoko, and Takeda started to lift it, throwing it over the railing to hang and the words written on the banner are 'Fly.' It's a black banner with the main writing in white and large. The team lets out a gasp, their eyes wide as they stare at the banner and [Name]'s smile widens even more. 

"I didn't know we had that," Sugawara voiced.

"I found it while cleaning, so I washed it," Kiyoko informed. "I asked for [Last Name]'s help, too."

"I'm getting fired up!" Tanaka exclaimed. 

"That's our Kiyoko-san and [Name]! Great job!" Nishinoya exclaimed, too. 

Nishinoya and Tanaka looked at each other, both of them excited and having smiles. "All right! Let's get fired up!" 

"Wait," Daichi advised, throwing his arm out. "'They're... not done."

"Do..." Kiyoko started. 

[Name] stands next to Kiyoko, the two girls smiling at each other and Kiyoko has a blush on her cheeks. Both the girls turn to the team, one smiling widely and the other one blushing, "Do your best." 

The team are silent, staring at the two girls and Kiyoko immediately grabs [Name]'s wrist, tugging her towards the ladder. The boys stand there, gazing at the spot where both of them were with stiff bodies. Azumane, Sugawara, Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Daichi's eyes are focused on the word 'Fly' on the banner and tears come out of their eyes.

Daichi covers his face with his arm, hiding his sobbing face. "Shimizu! [Last Name]! No one ever did anything like this for us before!"

"Even the captain!" Hinata and Kageyama said.

Nishinoya and Tanaka are balling their eyes out, their gaze still focused on the banner with their mouths wide open.

Tsukishima looks at them in alarm, "Those guys... they're speechless."

"They usually never shut up," Yamaguchi added. 

They start crying loudly, the gym echoing with their cries as the first years watch the whole scene before them. 

"You're all out of control!" Tsukishima yelled. 

Daichi looks to his team, tears in his eyes and snot under his nose. "We're going to win the first round for sure!"

The team except for Tsukishima yell. Hinata jumps up and Tanaka lifts Nishinoya up like the bamboo lifts up Simba in the beginning of Lion King. [Name] and Kiyoko stand next to each other, watching the boys and they continue to cheer, be loud, and cry about the banner. [Name] smiles, glad to see their reactions and she's glad to see them happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SUPER SORRY ABOUT THE LONG WAIT
> 
> its just hard for me to type out the matches and it takes a lot, A LOT, of motivation to type out the scenes
> 
> but i hope you guys enjoyed!
> 
> ive been kinda busy with classes because of college and stuff
> 
> but i update like once or twice on the weekends because i feel like i have free time then
> 
> thank you so much for the 1,000 favorites
> 
> there probably (hopefully) be an update in 2-3 weeks because I have other stories (like Voltron) that I need to update
> 
> im gonna put this story on Wattpad too


	8. Revival

"I wonder what the Karasuno team is like."

"I hope there aren't too many tall players."

"Don't worry about it. I hear they've been mediocre for a while." 

"I think Shiratorizawa could win."

"No, Aoba Johsai's on a roll this year. I hear Oikawa has surpassed everyone since becoming a third-year."

"I also hear Seijoh's first-years are amazing jumpers."

"Yeah, but still, they probably won't get past Dateko's blockers. I'm glad we're not in the A block."

"Let's see, this block... Tori... Torino?" 

"I think that's 'Karasuno.' They were strong once, not too long ago." 

"Oh, yeah, but not anymore. There's a saying about their team."

"What's that?" 

"'Fallen powerhouse. Flightless ravens.'"

[Name] sees the boys stand behind the two boys in the key-lime colored jackets and pants. She notices that each boy has a scary expression on their features, expecting it from Tanaka and Nishinoya, Kageyama, and Tsukishima. However, definitely not from Hinata, Yamaguchi, and Sugawara, too. One of the taller boys, the one with black hair notices Karasuno standing behind them.

"Hey, shut up," the black haired whispered. 

"Huh?" 

Tanaka squeezes between them, "Flightless, you say? Is that what you said?" 

Daichi grabs Tanaka by the back of his jacket. "Come on. Let's go." Daichi bows to the two boys, "I'm sorry."

"No problem."

"Don't squabble," Daichi scolded. 

"Yes."

[Name] walks behind the boys, gripping her phone tightly as they walk through the entrance of the gymanism. She realized that Hinata and Nishinoya are the only one wearing the shorts of the team uniform and Nishinoya isn't wearing the black jacket, too. [Name] has one one, too even though she's not a player, but she's still part of the team. She ignores the staring from the other players as she walks with the team. 

"All black..."

"That one guy doesn't look like a high schooler."

"Hey, is that guy... That's Karasuno's Azumane."

Azumane flinched.

"What? Who's that?"

"Don't you know? I heard guys from Kita High worked for him to extort money." [Name] noticed Azumane's mood dampening slowly. "I also heard he sold illegal substances on the streets. And I heard he's been in high school for five years." 

"He's an adult, then."

Sugawara smiles. "Oh, well. It's the usual gossip."

"It's only because of his appearance," [Name] stated, walking past Daichi and Sugawara. 

"But I like to have sort of a wild appearance," Azumane explained, trying to justify himself. 

Sugawara, [Name], and Daichi turned away from Azumane, all three of them having a deadpan expression. [Name] doesn't really see Azumane as a wild person, moreso kind and compassionate and even caring. He's the looks like a cinnamon roll and _is_ a cinnamon roll and he's a softy, knowing that there's nothing wrong with being a softy. 

"You wouldn't say that if you were really wild," Sugawara stated. 

Nishinoya laughs, beaming brightly. "Who cares about how they view you?" 

Daichi and Sugawara placed a hand on Nishinoya's shoulders, the two third-years smiling at Azumane. "Now this is what you call 'wild.'" 

[Name]'s phone starts buzzing in her hand and she excuses herself. Daichi and the others blink in confusion as she steps away from them, but then their attention goes to Kiyoko whose walking with Takeda. [Name] goes over to the bathrooms, her heart pounding in her chest as she answered the phone call and she leans against the wall. 

"Hello?" [Name] asked, smiling at the ground. 

_"I saw your text message and I wanted to say thank you."_ Ushijima's deep voice on the other end of the call makes [Name] squeal internally. She placed a hand over her heart, hoping that would calm her beating heart down. _"I wish you luck for your upcoming matches as well. I hope you slept well."_

"I did," [Name] answered, unable to resist her smile from widening. "Oh, um... uh, do you want to come over tonight? You can sleep over as well and... I can tell you everything." 

_"Okay. I will see you tonight."_

"Bye, Waka and good luck," [Name] said. 

_"Good luck to you too, and bye, [Name]."_

[Name] ended the call, squealing quietly and clapping her hands quietly to herself. She walks away from the bathrooms, the biggest smile on her face and she bumps into Kageyama, stumbling backwards until Kageyama catches her wrist and gets her back on her feet. That scary expression disappears from Kageyama's face when he towers over [Name] and he lets go of her wrist while she apologizes to him. 

"I should have payed attention," [Name] laughed lightly, walking alongside him. 

"What's he doing at Karasuno?" 

"It's okay," Kageyama replied, shaking his head.

"He wasn't very popular in junior high, though. That girl he's with is pretty cute though!" 

"How are you feeling, Kageyama?" [Name] asked, glancing at him. She can hear Hinata making excited noises behind them as he takes in the gymanism. 

"This place is packed!" Hinata exclaimed. 

"I feel fine," Kageyama replied, nodding his head. 

[Name] hears Hinata's footsteps become distance and she looks over her shoulder to see the orange haired first-year approach another volleyball player from a different team. She smiles, thinking that Hinata's excitedness is cute and adorable as he tells the volleyball player that he's aiming for the top. 

"Suga-san!" [Name] shouted, catching the third-year's attention. She points in Hinata's direction. "Someone strayed from the path."

Sugawara hurries over, moving Hinata away from the different volleyball players. "Idiot. What are you doing? I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"It's fine." 

Hinata rushes away from Sugawara, going in the direction of where the gym actually is and [Name] could hear the shouts and the noise of volleyballs hitting the floor. She sees where Hinata is standing, admiring his personality and how excited he's being. She wonders if this could possibly be his first time in a tournament or actually, she remembers Daichi and them saying that they had seen him and Kageyama in a match against each other.

"It smells like Air Salonpas..." Hinata commented. 

"What are you talking about?" Kageyama questioned. 

"That's the smell of tournaments," Hinata informed.

Nishinoya steps towards him. "I know, right?"

"I-It's them."

"He's huge."

[Name] turns her head to see the players of Dateko and she pulled her lips into a thin line. In the front of them is Aone, the boy a whole foot taller than [Name]. Aone and Ushijima are almost the same height, although she isn't sure which one of them is taller than the other, but she wasn't expecting to see them so soon.

"It's Date Kogyo."

Aone lifts his hand, pointing at Azumane which shocks everyone while Tanaka and Nishinoya glare straight at Aone. [Name] shuffled towards Nishinoya, seeing the glare on his features and she tugged on his arm, but he ignores her. 

"You got a problem?" Nishinoya asked, stepping forward.

Azumane stops him by putting his arm out in front. Azumane and Aone are having a stare down, no words are exchange between anyone at all. [Name] could feel the tension rising and she's not sure what's going to happen next, but she already knows that Karasuno will have to face against Date and she can only hope that Karasuno will be able to defeat Date.

"Hey, hey, hey. Stop that," a boy with black, curly hair and short eyebrows runs over and scolds Aone. The boy looks over to Karasuno, trying to tug down Aone's arm. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"No...." Daichi trailed off, a lost of words.

The boy looks to a brown haired kid who's hair is swept to the side and he has matching brown eyes. "Futakuchi, help me out."

The boy, Futakuchi, steps forward and lowers Aone's arm, smiling at Karasuno. "Sure. Sorry about that. This guy targets our opponent's ace whenever he sees them. So... you better be ready." 

The team walks away with the black curly haired boy scolds Aone. [Name] lets out a sigh of relief, her eyes looking over at the team and most of them don't seem fazed by it at all. Although, she notices that Tanaka is sticking his tongue out at the team leaving them. She hears Sugawara let out a sigh of relief as well.

"That was a little jarring," Sugawara commented, turning to Daichi.

"Yeah," Daichi voiced. 

Sugawara turns his attention to Azumane. "I'm amazed that you stared back at him--"

Azumane's lips are pulled tightly, his eyes wide as there's sweat on his face. He looks so nervous and scared, [Name] wasn't even sure how he was able to keep a blank face in front of Aone like that without breaking down in a nervous fit. She smiled, watching Azumane sulk his shoulders as his body relaxes.

"Th-That was nerve racking," Azumane mumbled.

"Why are you such a wimp off the court?" Nishinoya asked, scowling at Azumane.

[Name] placed a hand on Azumane's arm, smiling up at him. "Are you okay?"

"Somewhat," Azumane laughed nervously.

"Sawamura." 

[Name] looks away from Azumane, turning to Daichi and wondering who called him. She sees a boy with light brown hair and dark brown eyes gazing at Daichi. His complexion is paler than Daichi's and he's wearing a white jacket with a blue collar and underneath the armpits of the torso is blue, too. 

"Long time no see," the boy greeted, lifting his hand in greeting. 

"Hey, Ikejiri," Daichi greeted. He turns to [Name] and the others, "Sorry, I'll catch up with you guys in a minute."

"Yeah." 

\---

[Name] looks around the gym, seeing three courts set up and there's a lot of banners from different teams being held up. There's a couple of people in the stands, but not that many because these first matches aren't that popular. As for when Shiratorizawa has a match, there's always a ton of people there and [Name] wonders how the first years would react to something like that. 

She wished she could have helped Kiyoko and Takeda set up the banner, but she has to make sure she has the supplies in case someone gets hurt. She also decided to help Ukai with the setting up and helping the boys practice while Kiyoko is busy. The team, Ukai, and [Name] smile as they gaze at the banner.

"All right. Let's start practicing," Ukai announced.

"Yeah!"

Ukai looks over to [Name]. "[Last Name], can you fill a couple of water bottles?"

"Sure!"

[Name] picks up a couple of water bottles, holding them in her arms and she jogs out of the gym. She stands in front of the water fountain, placing a few on the floor so she can open the bottle and she holds it under the fountain, watching it fill with water. She hums a tune to herself and she bounces on the ball of her feet, her smile widening as she's looking forward to seeing Ushijima tonight.

She's also excited and rooting for Karasuno to win! That too! And she's confident in her boys that they'll win their first match and she knows that they'll look forward to the second match. She's only really concerned when Karasuno goes against Date and they lost to them last year. She can only hope the boys will be able to handle their own and win. 

"[Last Name]?"

[Name] turns her head, removing the water bottle from the fountain and putting the lid on it. She smiles at Iwaizumi and Oikawa, the two boys apart from their team and Iwaizumi is dragging Oikawa, however now Oikawa is standing on his own. Oikawa approaches [Name] and she steps away nervously, keeping the smile on her lips. 

"Ah! Ushijima's girlfriend, [Name]-chan!" Oikawa greeted, a charming smile on his lips. "Or is he your ex now?" 

"We're still dating, Tooru-kun," [Name] stated, nodding her head. "It's good to see you, Iwa." 

"[Name]-chan, leave mean ol' Ushijima!" Oikawa begged, grabbing [Name]'s hands. "It'll be the biggest insult in his face! His own girlfriend leaving him for someone better!"

"Stop sprouting stupid shit, Trashykawa," Iwaizumi hissed, smacking the back of Oikawa's head. Iwaizumi grabs Oikawa by the back of his jacket, dragging the popular male away from [Name]. "Sorry about that. We'll leave you to finish that." 

[Name] nods her head and she goes back to finish filling the water bottles. She smiled to herself, hearing Oikawa's voice become distance as Iwaizumi drags Oikawa away from her and towards the stairs that leads to the seating. She chuckles, knowing that Oikawa only did that so he can get back at Ushijima for winning every time match they played against each other. 

Oikawa had caught [Name] giving Ushijima a kiss when he had first won against Oikawa and the male had figured the two of them were a couple by that simple action. Oikawa has been hellbent on convincing [Name] to leave Ushijima and to date him, but [Name] isn't going to leave Ushijima because someone told her to. She's been dating the Shiratorizawa ace for years.

She finished filling the water bottles, going back into the gym and she walks over to the bench, placing the bottles down. She hears Oikawa's voice again, the _'Yoohoo'_ and she looks up to see Oikawa leaning against the trailing with two fingers up. Oikawa's eyes go over to [Name], winking at her and she blushed, looking away. 

"Tobio-chan, shrimp-chan. How's the freak duo doing?" Oikawa asked.

"It's the Great King," Hinata said.

[Name] sees Iwaizumi lift his hand and smack Oikawa on the hand harshly. 

"That hurt, Iwa-chan," Oikawa whined, rubbing the pain away on his hand. 

"Give me another one!" Nishinoya shouted. 

[Name] chuckles, her eyes immediately going to Nishinoya and she goes to sit down on the bench. She pulls one leg to have it rest underneath her thigh, swaying her other leg freely as her hands are in her lap. She watches the team practice as Kiyoko organizes the water bottles in the holder as Takeda stands with a clipboard in his hand.

"It's finally happening," Takeda confessed, a smile on his lips as he looks at the team. "Teams will compete in this enormous place, in front of a crowd. I think I'm more nervous than our players. Let's do everything we can for them, to the best of our ability."

"Yes," [Name] and Kiyoko answered. 

Ukai, Takeda, Kiyoko, and [Name] stand in front of the bench together as the starting team is on the court. The referee blows the whistle, making a gesture with his arms and he asks for the captains. Daichi and the other team's, Tokonami, captain walk forward, shaking their hands and saying 'all the best' to each other. The referee blows the whistle again.

"Huddle!" Daichi shouted, the team walking to the white line. "Line up." 

The two teams line up, the other teams down the two courts also line up as well. [Name]'s eyes goes to where Oikawa and his team are, seeing that their eyes are focused on Karasuno and she blushed when Oikawa's eyes meet hers. She noticed that Iwaizumi is the only one in his team that's standing instead of sitting in the seats. Her eyes go back to her team and the referee blows the whistle, the noise echoing throughout the gym.

"Let's play!" 

Ukai, Takeda, Kiyoko, and [Name] bow to the other coach of Tokonami while Karasuno and Tokonami shake hands. The other teams that are playing today also do the same, a lot of chatter echoing throughout the whole gym with the noise of clapping. [Name] sits back down, excited for their first official match of this year and she claps her hands in excitement. 

"Go! Go! Let's go! Let's go, Dateko!" 

She turns her head, seeing the cheering section for Dateko and their banner that says ' _Date's Iron Wall._ ' She pulled her lips into a thin line, their cheering completely loud and they're near it, too. She could hear them shouting the words and clapping the plastic bottles against each other or the plastic circular shouting devices(I have no fucking idea what they're called lmao). 

"Listen up," Ukai announced, the team surrounding [Name] and the other three. "This is everyone's first match. Everyone's nervous, everyone's anxious, everyone's not their usual self. But you have to overcome those things before they do. Score a big victory first, and find your groove."

"Yeah."

"I'm mean what I'm going to say, and it's no empty compliment," Takeda started. [Name] looks at him in slight confusion. "You are all strong. Karasuno is strong. Let's show everyone in the gym how ravens fly."

"Take-chan, good one!" Nishinoya praised. 

"Take-chan? That's so cute!" [Name] said, a smile on her lips. 

"They say that inauspicious line everywhere we go," Tanaka stated, crossing his arms on his chest.

"But let's show them, 'Look! We, Karasuno, are the champions of old. We are winners,'" Takeda said.

"Yeah!"

Takeda became flustered, moving his arms around. "Was that poetic? Was it moving?"

"It was fine. Fine," Daichi assured. 

Hinata looks to Kageyama. "What does he mean, 'champions of old'?"

"How am I supposed to know?" Kageyama asked.

"We aren't really, but the nuance seems to be that we were strong in the past," Sugawara informed. 

"Hey, let's get going," Daichi said. 

The boys gather in a circle, bowing at the waist as they all gaze at the wooden floors. "Karasuno, fight!" Daichi shouted. 

"Yeah!"

[Name] sits down, sitting next to Kiyoko with her first-aid kit next to her. She kicks her legs back and forth, gazing at the starting team of Karasuno. In the back, there's Kageyama, Tsukishima, and Azumane along with Nishinoya who will switch throughout the whole match. In the front, there's Tanaka who is glaring at the other team, Hinata who is stretching his arm and Daichi. 

"You mean #10 is their middle blocker?" Tokonami's Number Five questioned, gazing at Hinata. "But he can't be more than 160 cm tall."

"Why are taller guys sitting on the bench?" Number Nine asked, stretching his arm.

The whistle blows. 

"Bring it on!" Hinata shouted.

Tokonami's captain, Komaki is the one serving. The captain tosses the ball up and hits it. 

"Asahi!" Daichi shouted, his eyes quickly going to Azumane. 

The ball goes towards Azumane, the third-year hitting a perfect receive and getting the ball up. Kageyama sets his hands up, waiting for the ball to land in his hands so he can set the ball. Once the ball touches Kageyama's hands, he sets it over to Tanaka who's running towards the net and jumps up.

"This one's mine!" Tanaka shouted, the widest smile on his lips. 

Tanaka spikes the ball, breaking through two blockers and landing the first point. Tanaka and Nishinoya yell excitedly when the referee blows the whistle and his arm going to Karasuno's side, signaling that they earned a point. Hinata joined them in the shouting and Daichi walks over to Tanaka.

"Tanaka, nice serve," Daichi praised.

Tanaka's mouth is wide open as he yells, "Take that!"

Daichi opened his mouth to say something, but Nishinoya joins Tanaka in the shouting. The two of them practically two peas in a pod which is funny to [Name] and she laughs to herself, covering her mouth to stop herself from laughing loudly. She knows that they're both excited for the offical first match for this year.

"Shut up!" Daichi yelled, scaring the two second-years. "That's too much!"

The referee blows the whistle, scowling at Daichi and Daichi bows in his head. [Name] wasn't expecting that to happen and she lets out a shaky breath, trying her best to calm down and not laugh loudly because she doesn't want to get scolded by the referee either. 

"Don't worry. Don't worry," Komaki told his team. "Let's turn the tables on them."

"Relax. We'll score back," Haga added. 

The referee blows the whistle.

"Tanaka, nice serve!" Daichi praised.

Tanaka lifts the ball, hitting it over the net and Sakurai receives the ball, getting it up. Hage jumps up to set the ball, setting it to Ikejiri who apparently knows Daichi. Ikejiri's eyes are on the ball, running towards the net and he jumps up as Daichi and Hinata jump when the spiker jumps. The ball makes it pass their arms and they land on the ground. Nishinoya slides on his knees, being able to stop the ball from hitting the floor and he receives it perfectly.

Daichi hits the ball up, tossing it to Azumane. 

"Here it comes. Let's get ready."

"This one's yours, Ace," Nishinoya informed. 

There's three blockers on Tokonami's side and Azumane jumps up. He towers over the three blockers, able to spike the ball on their side of the court and earning a point for Karasuno. 

[Name] smiles and she glanced at those sitting on the bench with her, seeing the smiles on their faces. Karasuno is ahead by two points so far and Azumane is able to tower over the three blockers and spike that ball with insane force behind it. She's excited to see Azumane be the ace once more.

"Did you see the power of our left side?" Ukai asked, a devious smirk appearing on his lips. "But we have other weapons, too..."

Tanaka is serving the ball again, the referee blowing the whistle and he hits it over the net. The other team was able to receive the ball perfectly and spike the ball that Nishinoya was able to get up. Hinata and Kageyama glance at each other, Hinata taking off in a sprint towards the net while Kageyama waits for the ball to land in his hands. 

Kageyama sets the ball to Hinata who's already in the air and ready for the spike. The ball makes contact with Hinata's hand and slams into the side of Tokonami's side, surprising Tokonami. Probably surprising other people who hasn't seen Kageyama and Hinata do their quick before and [Name] smiles.

She looks to where Oikawa is, the boy standing up from his seat and leaning against the railing with a sparkle in his eyes. [Name] thought that sparkle in Oikawa's eyes was cute because he looks like a child on Christmas morning and he looks excited. She chuckles, but blushed and looked away when Oikawa turned his gaze to her and winked, giving her the heart fingers. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the super long wait once again!
> 
> do you guys want me to type out the matches? it'll be long and id have to break it into two parts because itll literally take so long to do it
> 
> but im excited for ushijima and [name] to spend time together :)


	9. Winners and Losers

[Name]'s eyes widen, watching Daichi spike the ball to the other side of the net. Ikejiri ran after the ball even when it's outside of the court and she held her breath. She wishes for the boy to be able to receive the ball because she know how devastating it is not to be able to make it to the ball in time. However, she'd remind herself that she had the motivation to run after the ball. 

She pulled her lips into a thin line when Ikejiri didn't make it and Karasuno scored a point. The boys screamed for the point while those in Tokonami approached Ikejiri. She let out a sigh, turning her attention to Hinata who's going to serve and she watched Tokonami receive the serve effortlessly. 

"Bring to the left!" Ikejiri announced, his hand up. 

"Ikejiri-senpai."

Ikejiri approaches the net, his eyes focused on the ball and he jumps, spiking the ball. Unfortunately, Azumane and Tsukishima blocked, Azumane being the one to shut out Ikejiri and that was the first match point. The referee blows his whistle, signaling with his arms for the teams to rotate, [Name] and Kiyoko are giving water to the boys.

"You looked cool, Nishi," [Name] praised, smiling at him. 

Nishinoya pulled his lips into a thin line, blushing and he looks away. [Name] noticed and she was about to open her mouth when Tanaka bumps into her, a fake pout on his lips as he gazed at her. "What about me, [Last name]?" 

[Name] smiles wider. "You, too!"

Tanaka smiles wide, thrusting his fist in the air and he walks over to Nishinoya. Tanaka starts talking to Nishinoya with a smirk on his lips and that flustered expression disappears from Nishinoya's features. [Name] wondered if she shouldn't praise Nishinoya, perhaps it embarrasses him like a mother giving affection to her son in public. She didn't like that comparison. 

The referee blows the whistle and the players return to the court. 

"Nice serve, Kageyama!" Daichi encouraged.

[Name] watched the black haired first-year toss the volleyball up and perform a service ace serve. [Name] clapped, smiling wide as Kageyama's service ace was really good and he scored a point with it, too. Kageyama continued to do another four service aces, scoring five points in total for Karasuno with his service aces. 

Kageyama did another service ace, but Tokonami was able to pick it up. The ball is going towards the net, a bit too high to spike, but Ikejiri and Daichi are up on the net together. Both of them applying pressure to the ball to get it to either slip on one side, but Daichi was able to push the ball onto Tokonami's side.

However, Daichi touched the net so the point goes to Tokonami. 

"All right!" The players on Tokonami exclaimed. 

"Maybe we shouldn't be so happy about one lousy point."

"It's fine. One point can be the beginning of a scoring streak."

[Name] smiled at the team. 

Karasuno is in a match point, but Tokonami doesn't look like they're going to accept defeat. [Name] smiled at the sight of Tokonami still having their fighting spirit with them and she liked Tokonami only because they're not giving up despite the point difference between them. Nor are they going to let the one point that Karasuno needs to win the game waver their determination.

Tanaka serves the ball and Sakuari receives the ball. The setter sets the ball to Ikejiri, the number 4 player approaching the net with his eyes focused on the ball and he jumps, ready to spike the ball on Karasuno's side. Ikejiri spikes the ball past Hinata and Daichi, Azumane goes in the path of the ball and receives it. The ball lands in Kageyama's hands and he sets it to Hinata, but Ikejiri receives the ball.

Due to Ikejiri receiving the ball, Tokonami is able to score a point after the setter had set the ball to a wing spiker. Nishinoya had went to save the ball, but it hit the floor. Tokonami screams to scoring a point, but Nishinoya is louder than them.

"Damn it!" Nishinoya screamed, he goes back to his position. His arms low and out with his knees bent. "I'll save the next one for sure!"

"One more! Let's turn it around," Daichi yelled, being near the net. 

"Yeah!"

[Name] smiles, Karasuno still playing serious and not easing up, knowing that they only need one more point to win the game. She smiles when Kageyama sets the ball, Hinata being the decoy and the Tokonami blockers falling for him, but Kageyama set the ball to Daichi who scored the last point for Karasuno. 

[Name] packed up her supplies, slinging the strap of the bag over her shoulder. She helped Kiyoko pick up and gather the towels and bottled waters while Ukai and Takeda are having a conversation together. The others had left the court except for Hinata and Kageyama. Hinata is standing there, gazing at the court while Kageyama is packing his things away.

"Hey. Quit spacing out, airhead," Kageyama advised to Hinata. "Let's go."

"We won," Hinata stated. 

[Name] held the strap of her bag in her hands, gazing at Hinata. 

"Yeah," Kageyama replied.

Hinata turns to face him. "Do we play... another match?"

Kageyama stands up, "Yeah, because we won."

"We won," Hinata said, looking down at his hands. His hands are red, hitting the ball during the match so much and [Name] noticed the redness. His hands probably sting or tingle. "We won. We won! We can play another match. We can stand on the court again."

"He was like a little animal, hungry for victory..." Takeda trailed off, smiling at the excited and happy Hinata. "...and now he's tasted it for the first time."

"Yeah." 

\---

[Name] sits in front of Hinata, squeezing ointment into her hands to help with the stinging feeling on Hinata's hands. Nishinoya is helping Tanaka stretch while Azumane is sitting, Sugawara is going through his bag and [Name] thinks that Kageyama is mediating. He looks like he is so she's going to assume he is.

"Karasuno was amazing. Especially that little #10! He was unreal." 

Hinata stood up and [Name] gazed up at him in question, the cool feeling of the ointment spread on her hands. She sees the odd expression on his face, his eyebrows raised with a blush on his cheeks and his lips twitching nervously probably to prevent himself from smiling so widely. [Name] let out a sigh and she stands up, rubbing the ointment into his hands.

"I know, right? His quicks were right on the money."

His odd expression turns into shock and [Name] looks over her shoulder. Kageyama is gazing at him, a silent judging expression on his features as he gazes at [Name] over her shoulder and she held back a snicker.

"Wh-What?" Hinata asked, [Name] still rubbing the ointment in Hinata's hands. "I'm happy. What's wrong with that? No one's ever said stuff like that about me before." [Name] finished rubbing the ointment, crouching down to grab a towel and she wiped the rest of the lotion from Hinata's hand. 

"I didn't say anything," Kageyama said. [Name] looks up to see a devious smile on his lips. "I'm glad you're getting all the attention. The more our opponents are wary of you, the more they'll bring out the best in you."

"Yeah, I don't really understand what you mean, but you're scary when you're smiling," Hinata stated. 

[Name] stepped away from them, the towel thrown over her arm and the container of the ointment in her hands. She approaches Nishinoya and Tanaka, sitting beside Tanaka and Nishinoya's eyes flickered to her. She held up the container, smiling at them although her gaze is more focused on Nishinoya. 

"Do you want some on your arms, Nishi?" [Name] asked. 

He shakes his head, a slight smile on his lips. "No, I'm okay. Thank you, though."

[Name] opens her mouth to suggest, but the sound of Hinata voicing his pains caused her to lift her head to see Kageyama gripping Hinata by the top of his head.

"Yeah, he's right," Ukai said, approaching the team and referring to Hinata's and Kageyama's conversation. Daichi is behind Ukai, holding a piece of paper and reading it. "'That little #10' gets a big reaction. The bigger, the better. The more Hinata shines, the more he blinds the defense." [Name] puts away the ointment and towel while all the boys are standing up and having their attention on Ukai. "So, the starting lineup for the next match will be the same as the first."

Daichi reads the paper. "Our next match is at 1:30 PM. Keep yourselves warm."

"Have a light lunch," Ukai advised. "Don't fill yourselves up."

"Yeah."

[Name] walks away from the team, holding a bento in her hands and she goes to sit outside. She eats by herself, knowing who their next opponents are and knowing it's going to be rough for Azumane and the others. However, mostly for Azumane because that's the team that made him quit. She can only hope that they won't lose and they'll be able to take part in the next match. 

Her phone buzzed in her pocket and she took it out, seeing the caller ID and she smiles so wide her cheeks hurt. 

Answering the phone, she said, "Waka!" 

_"Assuming your tone is one of happiness, Karasuno won their first match?"_

"Yes, but I'm always happy when you call me," [Name] chuckled, kicking her legs as she sits on the bench. She chews on her phone, her gaze lowered to the cement ground. "Our next match is at 1:30 so I have some time to relax. Our next opponent won't be easy to win against." 

_"Hm? How come?"_ She could hearvoices on the other end. " _I'm talking to [Name], Tendou. Is there something you need?"_

 _"Hi [Name]-chan!"_ Tendou's voice replaced Ushijima's. _"Is it true that Wakatoshi is spending the night at your place?"_

"Yes."

_"Wakatoshi wants to talk to you. He's glaring at me!"_

_"Hello?"_

"Hi, Waka." 

_"How come the next opponent won't be easy again?"_

"We'll be playing against Dateko. The last time we went against them, Asahi-san was shut out completely and their defense is practically god-like. Three months ago was when we last went against them and Asahi-san quit. I don't want that to happen again and I know Karasuno will struggle against them, but hopefully we can pull through." 

_"Dakteo is known for their defense. However, I believe that Karasuno will win."_

"So, what would you like to do tonight, Waka?" [Name] asked, fiddling with the chopsticks in her hand. 

" _Anything you'd like to do."_

"What do _you_ want to do, Waka?" She asked again. 

She knows that he's content with doing whatever she wants to do, but she would also like to do what Ushijima would like to do as well. Only because she wants to enjoy what he wants to do and have fun with him. He's always fine with doing what she wants to do even if they're just watching movies, cooking, or simply taking a nap in her room together. 

There's silence on his side of the call and [Name] wondered if he hung up on her. She knows he wouldn't, but it didn't stop her from pulling her phone away from her ear to make sure that she's still on the phone with him. She put her phone back to her ear and she opened her mouth, but Ushijima responded. 

_"A massage."_

"A massage?" She repeated. He hummed in response and [Name] nodded her head. "Okay. Like a back massage?" 

" _Yes."_

"Okay. A back massage it is," [Name] chuckled. 

\---

"All right. We'll win the second match, too!" Hinata announced. 

[Name] doesn't bother to acknowledge Date Tech although Aone practically towers over [Name] when he passes by her. He's so quiet and [Name] would love to see if him or Ushijima are taller. Although, she's never really seen Date Tech go against Shiratorizawa. When Karasuno would lose in the tournaments, [Name] would go watch Ushijima and Shiratorizawa play and she would cheer on Shiratorizawa. 

Sometimes, the coach would let [Name] on the court because apparently, Ushijima was more motivated than normal. 

"Go! Go! Let's go! Let's go, Dateko!" A shouter within Date Tech's cheering section started off.

"Go! Go! Let's go! Let's go Dateko!" 

[Name] groaned, rolling her eyes as she rubbed her temples. She glared at Date Tech's cheering section, burning holes in their 'Iron Wall Defense' stupid banner and she narrowed her eyes at the team. All of them are huddle in a circle and the captain, Moniwa, has the biggest smile on his face. 

"Dateko... fight!" Moniwa shouted.

"Yeah!" The players exclaimed, being loud as hell. 

"Start running!" 

"You're getting intimidated again," Tanaka stated, gazing at the trembling and shocked Hinata. 

[Name] walks over to Azumane and she touched his arm. He jumped slightly, but he gives a kind smile to her and she returns his smile. His eyes widen when [Name] jumps up to wrap her arms around his neck to give him a hug and he's way too stunned to hug her back. Azumane is just an inch shorter than Ushijima, but normally Ushijima bends slightly so [Name] could wrap her arms around his neck. When he doesn't do that, she has to literally jump and most of the time, he doesn't bend. 

"You'll be good out there," [Name] stated, standing on the very tip of her toes. "This will be different than last year. I promise." 

Azumane chuckles nervously. "Thank you, [Last Name]. That means a lot."

"Of course!" [Name] pulls away, stumbling a bit, but she balances out. 

The referee blows his whistle calling for the captains and [Name] moves to the bench. Tanaka and Nishinoya hound on Azumane, what they're saying [Name] can't tell because they're whispering. However, Tanaka's and Nishinoya's expression is different because it seems like they're both scowling or it looks like they are. 

"I don't know how to say it..." Takeda said, a nervous smile on his lips as he gazed at Dateko's cheering section. "...but it's like Dateko has taken over the court."

Daichi runs over after shaking Moniwa's hand. "We're receiving first from this side of the court."

"Yeah," Ukai replied.

"Get ready to receive!" Daichi announced. 

"Yeah." 

Kiyoko pushes the cart of volleyballs while the players line up to Ukai and she holds out a volleyball. Daichi is first while Ukai is across from him and [Name] sits on the bench, watching them from afar. [Name] hopes that her words were able to make Azumane feel better about himself and if Karasuno loses, she hopes that it isn't like last year. And if they win, then she'll be very relieved. 

"Here goes," Ukai announced, rolling his sleeves up. "Keep it in play."

"Yeah."

Ukai tosses the ball up, spiking it and Daichi received it perfectly, he then runs to the back of the line. [Name] watches the warmup, all the players receiving until Nishinoya is next. 

"Rolling..." Nishinoya growled. Ukai spiked the ball to him and Nishinoya received the ball with his inner forearm. "Thunder..." He rolls and pushes himself to stand up, "Again!" [Name] smiles watching him chuckle as everyone has surprised expressions and he smirks. "That was perfect."

"Noya-san, nice receive," Tanaka praised, moving his hand in a 'come hither' motion. "Perfection itself! Except for the name."

Nishinoya snaps. "The name is perfect, too!"

"Teach me! Teach me the Again version, too!" Hinata asked.

"How's that different from the regular one?" Tsukishima questioned. 

"What was that?" Sugawara laughed, holding his stomach. 

"He saved it." 

"Hey, Nishinoya, you're gonna make Daichi mad." 

"All right. There's nothing to worry about," Nishinoya claimed, hands on his hips. "All of you, keep your eyes forward. Because you have me guarding your backs."

[Name] smiled widely, feeling her eyes sting as tears are building in them. She guess she shouldn't worry about them that much for this match, they're acting like themselves and Nishinoya reassured them with his skills as a libero. [Name] lifted a hand, wiping the tears building her eyes and she sniffled, gazing at Nishinoya as he stands with confidence.

"A-Awesome!" Kageyama, Hinata, and Tanaka exclaimed. 

"Wow. He restored the team's confidence," Takeda added. 

"Yeah. He's a truly outstanding libero," Ukai voiced. 

The referee blows the whistle and the two teams line up. 

"Let's play!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so like ive been thinking about this
> 
> but you guys wont know until it happens lmao
> 
> i want to do this 'thing' because it'll be my first time writing it for ushiwaka :)
> 
> but i decided to do brief points of the matches like important plays or other stuff

**Author's Note:**

> the tags states that it's a various x reader, but ushijima and [name] are dating right now  
>  but that doesn't mean that other boys don't have a chance lol  
>  i hope you guys enjoyed  
>  this is my first haikyuu story that follows the plot  
>  also the title is long because [Name] and nishinoya come back as well as it's the same episode that's called He Who Is Called 'Ace'


End file.
